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In gratefulness to God for my ordination
It has been two years since my ordination as a vocational deacon into the Anglican Church. This has been a blessed time in my life and I am thankful for the leading of the Lord into this place of ministry. October 11 was feast day for Philip the deacon and evangelist. I cherish this collect for Philip:
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Flourishing out of tragedy
Arthur Brooks in his book, From Strength to Strength, tells the story of Beethoven. He was trained by great composers and musicians. His talent in composing and on the piano was off the charts. He gradually became deaf in his 30s and what musician can operate without their hearing?
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The deep, sustaining beauty of relationships
“I awoke this morning with a devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new. Shall I not call God the Beautiful, who daily showeth himself to me in his gifts? I chide society, I embrace solitude, and yet I am not so ungrateful as not to see the wise, the lovely, and the noble-minded, as from time to…
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A progressive racist
The “Presidential” podcast goes through each of our presidents to the present. Each one is interesting and the take in each particular episode is interesting. The podcast will take on the complicated narrative of each president, and Woodrow Wilson is a great example. He was a progressive politically. Teddy Roosevelt was another progressive president preceding Wilson. In his time the…
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The health of relationships
There have been a couple of incredible studies spanning decades looking into the lives of people to determine what makes people happy. What is success?
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Worth Your Time
I try to note what I’m reading or listening to personally, so I will try, from time to time, to share links to what is inspiring/challenging me. I keep coming back to Tish Harrison Warren and David French because week after week they write things that are continually worth reading to me. I subscribe to several weekly emails, but generally…
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Expose death
We hide the reality of death and dying in America. Ironically, we have an obsession with death or near death in our entertainment, but when the thought of the reality of death comes near, we hide it all too often.
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Feast of St Luke
Almighty God, you called your servant Luke to be an evangelist and physician of the soul: Grant that, by the wholesome medicine of the doctrine he taught, all the diseases of our souls may be healed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and forever. Amen.
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People will forget me
Arthur Brooks in his book, From Strength to Strength, gives brutal assessments. People will forget me. My striving for “significance” is going to come to nothing. But the key is this: Obsessing over the future squanders the present.
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The gift of grief
It’s the time of year in my Facebook memory feed where I see pictures from our oldest son’s wedding as they approach an anniversary. I had made the trip from Minnesota by driving to Kansas to get my parents and then go on to Alabama. So in the midst of the wedding pictures are the ones of my mom and…
