Given the chance, I jump at the opportunity to tell people why I love the Presbyterian Church. I can go on and on about polity, theology, critical Bible study and so much more. During a recent family gathering, I found myself explaining some of the major theological differences between Protestants and Catholics. For as much as I love the way our process works with shared leadership in our committees, time for everyone to share their voice and formal votes to agree upon things, it sometimes holds us back from really doing the work of Jesus in the world. We can (dare I say it?) be so decent and in order we forget what following Jesus is all about. In 2019 my hope for the church is that we would learn to love more fully without getting caught up in our own process. While it rightfully takes years of process to change our constitution, it should not take us a series of meetings to respond to people in crisis. Yet even loving people seems to have been hijacked by politics in our … [Read more...]

Training for marathons has taught me at least one thing: Small, habituated decisions can lead to significant and even surprising results. I am ambivalent about beginning the year with yet another resolution or collection of resolutions, but my ambivalence does not change the fact that making intentional decisions aimed at an achievable goal can be a really worthy endeavor. I have wondered long and hard about how to engage constructively with the history of race in the United States. Race is a vast and subtle embodied experience that touches every dimension of our life. As I have explored and probed my own family’s history with race, particularly as it pertains to western South Carolina, I have come to realize that healing this centuries-long history will likely take more than a generation or two. In addition to time, it will likely require open, honest and specific intentionality. I am grateful to be serving as a pastor in a denomination that seeks to promote education on … [Read more...]

Whereas a year is a wondrous fleeting thing, and there is no time like the present and no present like the time right now. Whereas a holy, motley manner of roaming, foot-sore rabbis, gurus, saints, sages and mystics all concur that we mortals may glimpse The Infinite Incomprehensibility only by sitting with a child at play. Whereas one ancient wanderer in particular muttered quixotically, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Whereas that of the greatest worth may not be measured in spreadsheets, charts or productivity, but actually in crayons, s’mores, dandelions and many other incarnations capable of yielding utter squealing joy. Whereas except ye see signs and wonders, ye shall not believe. Whereas worms need to be rescued from sidewalks; whereas puddles need to be stomped; whereas pillow forts need to be carefully constructed and joyfully toppled; whereas even the rainiest roaring days need to be filled with awe and wonder. Whereas one bright-eyed … [Read more...]

“And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.” (Acts 2:43) I heard in a podcast recently someone musing that many of us have lost our capacity for wonder. I believe this person was attributing our lack of awe to the 24-hour news cycle. Information moves so quickly nowadays that it’s hard for anything to really sink in. The insight connected with my own observation of the people around me and of myself. Case in point: Christmas. I know we are just past the Christmas worship services. But as I think about the New Year and what resolutions I might make, my heart and mind go back to Christmas. The Christmas season, including the anticipation built up over Advent, was my favorite time of year as a child. The trappings of the season – the balsam smell of live Christmas trees, the sparkling lights on the tree and on houses, the sweetness of Christmas cookies and gingerbread people – all filled me with wonder. My parents tell me that … [Read more...]