change
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‘Scratch any cynic…’
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1 min read
We often talk about the fatalism of our character. Or who we’ve become because of our experience. But there’s a beauty in this thought: “Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist.” -George Carlin That we might actually see what’s underneath. What’s still there. Idealism never left. It got turned toward something else.…
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A room full of clergy learning about changes to their pension fund is the last place I’d look for inspiration. And it’s a pretty safe guess you wouldn’t look there, either. But a funny thing happened. You don’t need to know anything more about the situation than that. It’s the sort of place which suffocates…
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New Birth – Christmas as Catalyst for Change
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6 min read
I gave up New Year’s Resolutions years ago. But every year, I face the same routine of looking at my life through the lens of aging. Always. We get to midnight on New Year’s Day and by 12:01 am, I’m trying on the new year’s number with the fascination of a time traveler. How did we…
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Loving Joy
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4 min read
Imagine going to a new doctor and receiving this included in the instructions: “make sure you take time for yourself every day – personal time – to relax/do your favorite activity – even if only for a short period.” One of my favorite writers described this experience of being prescribed “joy”. Of having to rediscover…
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Upsetting the Apple Cart
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9 min read
For this transgression roots down to the very foundation of how we understand faith. How Jesus keeps widening the circle Proper 4C | Luke 7:1-10 As we return to the gospel we call Luke after several weeks in John and the last two in Acts, the lectionary drops us off in a story of Jesus’s…
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My Advent Resolution
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5 min read
I love both Advent and Christmas. I love preparing, anticipating, waiting for what is to come. It makes the arrival of Christmas all the sweeter. Like waiting all summer for a resolution to the cliffhanger, all year for the next book in a series, the next chance to have candy corn, peppermint mochas, or cream…