I am thankful for the simple things in my life.  For instance, I give thanks:

• when the puppy does her business outside and not on the living room floor. 
• that my recently spayed cat no longer "sprays" on the kitchen floor or countertops.
• for good sharp cheddar cheese from Ireland.
… Read full post »

Ashley F. Miller has written a great article detailing "Why 'In God We Trust' Is a Problem."  I couldn't have made a better argument than she already has even if I wanted to, so I encourage you to read her post if you haven't done so already.

The point I want to make,… Read full post »

This post and all comments have been moved to my new (and more reliable and easier to use) blog at:

 http://extremegrace.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/wishful-thinking/ Read full post »

together they eat and drink
though merry they are not
this is my body he had said
broken for you 
this is my blood 
shed for you
remember me . . .

and then he took a towel
and a basin of water
he washed their dirty grimy feet
and told them to do this
for each other when he… Read full post »

This post and all comments on it have been moved to my new blog:

http://extremegrace.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/god/

I never wanted to be a pastor.  In fact, from the time I was sixteen my mantra was this:  There are two things I will never do - get a divorce and become a pastor.  Oh well, 0 for 2.

My dad became a pentecostal evangelist when I was in the… Read full post »

Why am I not married?  Hmm . . . let me list a few reasons.

1.  Been there, done that, and frankly, it was not pretty.  In fact, the divorce drug out almost as long as the marriage did, and both of these times were pretty much a living hell.  I… Read full post »

The truth hurts, and the truth for me at this moment is that I simply have nothing to say.  

In the past, this was not a problem.  Though I had nada of consequence to add to the blogosphere, I would  throw in my two cents anyway.  Sometimes what I wrote… Read full post »

I am very tired of winter.

  Read full post »

today i baptized a baby
three months old and sixteen pounds
an infant-sized linebacker
he was dressed in a now dingy white outfit
passed down through the generations
and complete with a cap
the baby slept contentedly
while parents and sponsors
affirmed their belief in god
their commitment to christ
and their r… Read full post »

2:16 am
still awake
though not knowing why
i think of you
your smile breaking open
into laughter
your eyes glistening
as tears begin to fall
your voice telling me for the last time
i love you

our first kiss i stole from your lips
in the basement of your home
my heart racing i promptly turned
and hit my head on a… Read full post »

"For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation." - Rainer Maria Rilke

On December 4, 1992, a little girl was born in Northeastern… Read full post »

This afternoon I was treated to an update in my facebook feed from a member of my church which decried the continuing "war on Christmas."  The update is below, though the names and icon have been blurred to protect the guilty.

It is hard to know where to… Read full post »

"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments,… Read full post »

As a pastor for 0ver 25 years, I have become familiar with death.  By my calculations, I figure that I have conducted at least 300 funerals.  I have prayed with the dying, counseled the dying to let go and allow death to come, sat with people who were drawing their final… Read full post »