“Master, stop!” The disciples turned and saw a man running after them, the sort of man who didn’t usually have to run. His clothes were luxurious and ornate. His shoes were a rich person’s shoes, made for walking on tile floors and woven rugs, not the hard stones and dirt he was running on now. Jesus didn’t even turn around. He had heard the man, his disciples knew, but he wasn’t going to wait for him. The rich man was going to have to catch up with Jesus all by himself. “Master! Master!” The man made a final effort and ran around to the front of the group. He stopped, panting, face to face with Jesus. “Master! What must I do to be saved?” Jesus went around him and kept walking. “You know the commandments,” he said over his shoulder. “Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t kill. Honor God and your parents. Do all those things and you’ll be okay.” The man ran around in front of Jesus again. “I’ve done all those things since I was a little boy. It’s not enough.” For the first … [Read more...]
Blue-eyed Snake
What in the world is a blue-eyed snake? A sign that things are surely changing, that what is old is sloughing off, not yet replaced by something new. It’s hard to know just where you’re going when you can’t see just where you are. Snakes shed their skin. It’s how things are. It must be hard to be a snake: about the time you get things going your eyes grow dim and things start changing. You have no choice: you face the new blind as a bat. The first thing off is eyelid skin — before it’s off it turns opaque, and your eyes are useless and blue. It’s nothing new, unless you don’t know you’re a snake, can’t understand why things are changing, can’t see which way the way the world is going. I can’t help wondering if what’s going on with us is not far off from snakes whose skin is always changing. How vulnerable it seems we are to fear of change. Like a snake reflexively we hiss at new threats perceived though unseen, new phantoms in the fog, going past in … [Read more...]
Scrolls
1. How can you say, “We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us,” when, in fact, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie? (Jeremiah 8:8) Yellowed and torn, covered in scribblings, I place the parchment into my mouth. Some words are full of bones that choke and stick in my throat. Others are ripe with pulp and tender flesh, but beneath are seeds, bitter and hard. These I spit on the ground, they will bear no fruit. The sweetest of words dissolve, turn metallic — the taste of sword and scythe cuts my tongue. I can speak only violence and death. This sour scrawling stings and foams at my lips that long for some deliverance. 2. Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart. (Jeremiah 15:16) The little scroll, tightly bound must be consumed all of a piece. I place it wholly on my tongue. It is a thousand bees fanning their wings — honeycomb that sticks to my teeth, drips down … [Read more...]
God gives us a story
Flannery O’Connor prays: “Dear God, tonight it is not disappointing because you have given me a story. Don’t let me ever think, dear God, that I was anything but the instrument for Your story — just like the typewriter was mine.” An instrument for God’s story, nothing more, nothing less. Could this image permeate our sense of self and purpose so wholly that every word we utter, every act we execute becomes a catalyst for furthering the narrative of Good News for all people? If so, what would we say, write, create and do? God gives us not just the story of salvation, but countless stories, sentences to interpret the Word, parables that grant us ears to hear what the Risen Christ is saying to the church, poems that enact divine performative utterings happening right now. Our creative God makes of us vessels for beauty and truth. God gives us a story, a poem, a painting, a script, a dance, a song, a melody, a sculpture. Are we bold enough to surrender ourselves to those gifts and brave … [Read more...]
What’s right about First Presbyterian Church?
First Presbyterian Church — Donalsonville, Georgia Since 1898, Presbyterians in Donalsonville, Georgia, have been striving to be faithful to the great commandment and commission. Members visit in the county jail and communion is served there monthly. The congregation tutors students after school in the Friendship House of Jesus community ministry. A group of ladies meet two mornings a week to sew “Threads of Love,” and their creations from donated fabric are distributed locally, nationally an internationally. A mission trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, marked the church’s first international endeavor in 2017; and in 2018, 18 youth served for a week in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, in a Youthworks camp. The church is a regional drop-off site for Operation Christmas Child boxes. We host one of Flint River Presbytery’s Stop Hunger Now’s meal packing locations. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! – Raymond Guterman Share your 150-word story of “what’s right” with the Outlook by … [Read more...]
Managing secrets maturely: Family systems theory for church leaders
Every pastor faces the constant challenge of how to handle personal and congregational “secrets.” Because of the unique relational nature of our work, pastors probably wrestle with how to navigate secrets more than any other profession. Who among us has not wrestled with how to negotiate the blurred lines between those who are our members, parishioners, acquaintances, friends or even perceived adversaries in our faith communities? Most pastors have pondered: Should I even be friends with my church members? How do I handle that I enjoy the company of some of my flock more than others? How do I avoid the conflict of interest or the appearance of fostering favorites? How does being closer to some of my members affect my pastoral work and how others perceive me? What is it like for those who are not in my closest inner-circle? Further, how do pastors transition from meeting with a church member for a pastoral counseling appointment in the afternoon to sitting next to that same person in … [Read more...]
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