Psalm 139 on a Wednesday night When I speak to children I speak in a voice that gathers them in Even while they tumble across the carpet Like puppies with clothes They whine and yip and yelp occasionally But when…
Read MoreEpiphany VIII
Choosing and Praying a Breath Prayer Praying a breath prayer is just what it sounds like. To pray as you follow your breath – using words – connects the body to the sacred. And praying a breath prayer can open…
Read MoreEpiphany VII
Breathing a Prayer Let everything that has breath praise the Creator. When we lived in Georgia parishioners there introduced us to the amaryllis. Every year a pot with a gigantic bulb would appear on my desk during Advent. By the…
Read MoreEpiphany VI
Contemplating Lent Lent. A season of preparation. And repentance. Preparation, I can get with. Repentance, thatโs harder to face. Preparing is one of those things I can do. Maybe even when I can’t do the thing itself. Family lore says…
Read MoreEpiphany V
Wisdom and Folly “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.” Psalm 111:10 January has been a full month for me. It has held more travel than usual, intensive…
Read MoreEpiphany IV
Embodied Knowing vs. Rational Calculation Tonight I saw the latest Sherlock Holmes movie starringย ย Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as the good Dr. Watson. When the sequel, “A Game of Shadows” was announced,ย I was reminded of an early…
Read MoreEpiphany II
Imagination This month I am working on an article with my partner in research in the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project. Chris Scharen and I are writing about pastoral imagination itself. And as a part of that we are reviewing literature…
Read MoreEpiphany I
A New Day Dawning What’s that sound? The stirring wind of a new day. As the sun rose this morning over Lake Michigan, a new day in Baptist scholarship also dawned. It was not simply the panel presentation at the…
Read More