White Privilege

May 28, 2020.Reading time 13 minutes.

My struggle to adequately describe the murder of George Floyd ended when I saw this picture late last night. Take a hard look at this picture, because if you let it sink in deeply it will help you see much of what is wrong with America today. One frame: Armed protestors, effectively taking over the […]

A Time to Refrain

April 14, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

Here’s a new song I wrote last night, about our collective “sheltering in place.” Debuted it this morning on “Coffee on the Porch,” and spent later afternoon recording a better version. Hope you enjoy it….feel free to share. A TIME TO REFRAIN Sheltered in our home Dread outside our door We move through this alone […]

Faith, Not Fear, Is Calling us to Close

March 14, 2020.Reading time 8 minutes.

I’m gonna push back against churches boldly proclaiming that they intend to meet tomorrow and, by insinuation, calling the rest of us chicken or “afraid.” Because of the lack of wide-spread testing, because we don’t *scientifically* know just how widespread this pandemic goes, churches, schools, community groups, etc…are making the decision to close to the […]

Eminence Front

March 10, 2020.Reading time 12 minutes.

For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, the Muse compelled me to record a acoustic cover of The Who’s great song, “Eminence Front.” Somehow, I got it in my head that it’d be fun to try and mimic the guitar, synth and bass parts on acoustic guitar. Why? Because! So, scroll click the […]

Democratic Identities and Super Tuesday

March 4, 2020.Reading time 15 minutes.

“All politics is identity politics.” I keep mulling over this key learning from Ezra Klein’s new book, “Why We’re Polarized.” The classic formation of “identity politics” is used as a slam against liberals. But Klein’s book turns that on its head, and suggests that ALL of us have identities…MULTIPLE identities. Black, White, Latino, Asian. LGBTQ+, […]

Mayor Pete

March 2, 2020.Reading time 5 minutes.

Early in the campaign season, Pete Buttigieg made a stop here in Dallas for a big Democratic event. I was asked to deliver an invocation for the evening, which I was honored to do. During Mayor Pete’s keynote speech, he was interrupted at several points by hecklers, in what was clearly an organized plan to […]

At-ONE-ment

February 27, 2020.Reading time 4 minutes.

Lent is *supposed* to be about “turning a new way.” Unfortunately, for too many people, we grew up believing it was about “feeling bad.” There’s a big difference between the two. And that difference is summed up in this year’s theme for Lent at Kessler Park United Methodist Church: “At-ONE-ment.” The word that gets thrown […]

Stop. Wait. Think About This.

February 26, 2020.Reading time 19 minutes.

Sometime this morning, maybe even as I write this, the “Leaning Tower of Dallas” will finally come down. (UPDATE: Obviously, the timeline is much longer now…again, reinforcing the point of this essay…EF) I’ve been captivated by our fascination with this wreck of a wreck ever since it happened a week ago. I always love metaphor, […]

Jesus is Lord, and Caesar is not.

February 7, 2020.Reading time 9 minutes.

“Jesus is Lord, and Caesar is not…” This phrase is one of the key insights I’ve ever learned from Dr. John Dominic Crossan. And, honestly, one of the key insights I’ve ever learned in life. Crossan suggests that when the early Christian Church popularized the phrase “Jesus is Lord,” there was an understood second-clause: “Ceasar […]

“OK, Boomer” and Generation Jones

January 23, 2020.Reading time 21 minutes.

Recently, I was having a debate with a GenXer about the whole stupid “OK, Boomer” phenomenon. He was defending it, and I was not so much offended by it, as bored; by both the meme and his snarky insistence that he knew things this old man clearly did not. For my part, I was trying […]