I love the used book sales that local libraries hold in basements and back rooms. The smell of musty pages, the multicolored stacks of spines and lettering, the antiquated titles, the photographs within that reveal fashions that should never come back in style (but, of course, will). Every volume both time bound and timeless. Fixed when printed, yet changing with each person who peruses them. Children’s books. Cookbooks. Classic novels and esoteric poetry. Hunting and pecking through boxes, knowing that something wonderful might be unearthed, I feel like a treasure hunter on a quest not for gold, but for ideas. I once found Dag Hammarskjöld’s “Markings” and was drawn to its simple cover. At the time, I’d no idea who he was but a quick skim revealed it well worth the two-dollar price tag. The small Bible concordance I use regularly came to me from the expansive religious section in the Columbia, South Carolina, regional library sale. Between the “Christian romance” titles and the … [Read more...]

For years Frederick Buechner’s quote about vocation both haunted and inspired me. You likely have heard it: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” I tried to live up to that lofty vision. I queried young adults about their “sense of call.” I agonized with them as they sought God’s plan for their lives. I put a whole shopping cart full of stock in the importance of choosing the right vocation and I resold those goods to others. I now think I laid a heavy burden on those I encouraged to discern the intersection of their deep joy and the world’s deep need. I now recognize how rarely people have the luxury of such high-minded searching. More often than not, our deep need is to pay the rent and the means to meet that need is anything but gladness inducing. I know too many young adults who are too doubled over with the stress of student debt to wax eloquently about how if they do what they love, the money will follow. I know … [Read more...]

Wear your vestments. Clergy will sit together at the front. Faith leaders are needed in the park. We want the clergy to take the lead and set the tone.  These are some of the sentiments I heard this summer that will stick with me for years to come. Despite the shrinking numbers on our rolls and the much bemoaned decline of religious institutions, this summer, when the heat of hate got turned up to high, faith leaders were looked to for guidance, for comfort, for courage, for hope. We aren’t as irrelevant as we thought we were. When churches offered worship services, people came. They packed the place every time. Some looking uncomfortable and unsure, but nonetheless present. My husband overheard the man in front of him say to his pre-teen son, “You haven’t been to church since you were two.” But they were there on a Saturday night as the gospel was preached and prayers were lifted and Jewish and Christian songs were sung. When churches opened their doors, they came. They … [Read more...]