In my decade-and-a-half of ministry, I’ve been called-out a number of times for being vulgar. People tell me that coarse language and naughty humor are inappropriate in sacred space. I’ve heard it from strangers and from close friends, including those…
I spent a lot of time this week scouring collections of poetry and pouring through my usual go-to books for Sunday morning readings. I searched online for hours, googling: “Mother’s Day poems… SHORT Mother’s Day poems… Mother’s Day poems that…
At the beginning of the month, we had a really wonderful trip to see my family in the northeast. The entire week, every part of the journey, exceeded all expectations for both relaxation and enjoyment. And I returned home feeling…
When I’m worked up and stressed out, my angst usually arises out of sense that I’ve got to “get it right.” Almost always, there’s something that appears to have gone off the rails — maybe a minor thing, or sometimes…
This may be a bit obvious as far as wordplay goes, but I’m thinking about “whole” and “holes” this week. The Whole Thing and the The Hole Thing. At first, they seem almost like utter opposites. The former means intact…
When I was 22 years old, just out of college, living in Manhattan, I worked for a while at a 24-hour restaurant called “Lox Around the Clock.” It was next door to the iconic Limelight Nightclub, which was probably the…
“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.”— Margaret Mead I’m constantly on the lookout for different ways of thinking about our uniqueness and our universality, the essential individualism and connectedness of human experience. Each of us…
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” — Anne Frank This audaciously hopeful declaration has inspired and grounded me my entire life. I have a foggy recollection of my parents sharing the quote…
To bake something from scratch means to start with the basic raw ingredients rather than relying on boxed mixes and such. The term “from scratch” comes from racing and from sports like wrestling, referring to a literal “scratch,” a mark,…
A couple of weeks ago, I was working at my desk, trying to stay focused, but also handling several other minor pieces of business simultaneously Texts and emails were lighting up my devices periodically throughout, and I was meeting those…