My Prayer: Police Shooting Prayer Vigil at Thanksgiving Square

July 7, 2017.Reading time 7 minutes.

My prayer from this morning’s remembrance at Thanksgiving Square: Eternal and Loving God, The surreality of events one year ago this day have not faded in the memories of those of us who live and work here in your city. We give you thanks for all who have come to this place of gathering, this […]

Just As I Am (A Steve Fisher Cover)

June 21, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

I get haunted by songs. I pity those who don’t. I have no idea how they make it through the day. The songs that stay with me, the earworms every morning, these get me through life. Recently, I’ve been haunted by a song from my friend, Steve Fisher. One night when I was at Kerrville […]

Heart Into Art. Heartbreak Into Passion.

January 9, 2017.Reading time 6 minutes.

What if we took the gem of what Meryl Streep said last night —about having empathy toward others, and turning heartbreak into art— and just focused on that? And what I mean by this is: focus on those positive, life-giving invitations she made, and not on what Trump said afterwards? Because you knew what he […]

We Did Not Ask For This Room

December 31, 2016.Reading time 17 minutes.

“We did not ask for this room or this music. We were invited in. Therefore, because the dark surrounds us, let us turn our faces to the light. Let us endure hardship to be grateful for plenty. We have been given pain to be astounded by joy. We have been given life to deny death. […]

I Am A Christmas Christian

December 24, 2016.Reading time 22 minutes.

(Warning: This post contains adult language) I am a Christmas Christian. I’ve known this for decades now. But only now do I feel brave enough to say it boldly. Because, in many Christian circles, it’s almost like heresy to not say “I’m an Easter Christian.” I’m one of those too. I love Easter. I come […]

The Story at the Door

December 23, 2016.Reading time 10 minutes.

Sometimes the whole story of our faith, our culture, and this great political divide between us all is made manifest in small moments that speak to you…small moments that tell big stories. That happened to me as I stood at the door after worship on Sunday. One of the very first couples of shake my […]

The Planter Box by the Side of the Trail

August 20, 2016.Reading time 12 minutes.

White guys can be such a-holes sometimes. It’s embarrassing. There are so many days when I’m embarrassed to be a white guy. And not just because of the Donald Trump’s and Ted Nugent’s of the world, either. I’m talking about run-of-the-mill, a-hole white guys. I think those guys annoy me even more, because I ought […]

Remnant

August 13, 2016.Reading time 5 minutes.

On the homestretch of a very long 48 mile ride today. Left out of the house far too early this morning, because the forecast said it would rain around noon. But, the sky seems to be clearing and so I feel ripped off for leaving my warm bed and wife so early this morning. My […]

One Last Look, Before You Leap

August 9, 2016.Reading time 1 minute.

I can’t tell you what my friend Tom Prasada-Rao meant when he wrote his song, “Maria.” I’ve probably heard him play it a couple of dozen times, and listened the recording a ton more than that. But I can tell you what the chorus means to me, and what I’ve known it would mean to […]

“Moral Licensing” (You Need to Know About It)

August 3, 2016.Reading time 10 minutes.

“Why wasn’t there a whole new generation of Barack Obamas?” It’s a question Audie Cornish asked Gwen Ifill during an NPR interview last week. A year after President Obama’s first election in 2008, Ifill wrote a compelling book: “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.” The thesis of the book was that […]