Self compassion. Who needs it? Well, all the humans. It is hard, however, to love others when we struggle to love ourselves. This can be reality for many people. Sometimes it is just a season. For others it is an…
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3MMM | Episode 135: Confronting Intimidation and Fear
This week I want to share a personal story about confronting intimidation and fear. Very few people in my life have tried to intimidate me. Fewer have succeeded. Once, however, while I was a seminary student working temporary jobs between…
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3MMM | Episode 103: Nelle Morton on Listening
Has the Spirit been speaking to you in the course of this pandemic year? Where? How? Through whom or what? The past year has been quiet in some ways, making listening easier as many of us work from home. We…
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3MMM | Episode 16: Engaging Ritual
There are many powerful rituals available for ministers to engage while leading people of faith. In this post, I want to share two stories about engaging ritual. This past weekend I took some of my seminary students to the “Beating…
Read MoreAnatomy of a Schism – Design Ideas
Judging a Book by Its Cover The academic publishing process is deliberate and measured. So I am delighted to finally reach the design stage, and I’m very excited to share some ideas with my publisher, University of Tennessee Press. Below, you’ll find…
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Eastertide II
Practicing Resurrection B Last week I sent off final proofs on some devotions for Upper Room’s Disciplines 2015. My chosen theme for the week following Easter next year is practicing resurrection. I won’t be sharing what I wrote for Upper Room here…
Read MoreOrdinary Time XI
Late Summer Six-Word Stories We’ve just turned the corner from summer to autumn. Before the warm days slip away entirely, I want to share a few late summer six-word stories.* Most are from trips in September. The first three were…
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Ordinary Time V – Remembering Will Campbell
Remembering Will Campbell: Does Anyone Here NOT Know Amazing Grace? Memorial Service for Will Campbell, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee Saturday, June 22, 2013 Sitting under the words “Love your enemies” I feel my heart swell. They are painted on the…
Read MoreOrdinary Time III
Practicing Resurrection II This picture is part of a series of six-word stories that capture Wendell Berry’s provocative idea of “practicing resurrection.” In late April the pathway around a lake near my house flooded. The walkway and surrounding fields were…
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Practicing Resurrection I During Ordinary Time this summer, my congregation is taking a point of departure from Wendell Berry and crafting worship around “practicing resurrection.” We are looking to the created world to see what speaks to us of God’s…
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A Six-Word Story* ____________ * This idea came from Six Word Story Everyday. At that site contributors offer pictures worth a lot of words, but they only use six to tell each story. Since that discovery, I’ve posted a number of these short…
Read MoreOrdinary Time VIII
Sacred Six-Word Stories This idea came from Six Word Story Everyday. At that site contributors offer pictures worth a lot of words, but they only use six to tell each story. Since last fall I’ve posted a number of these…
Read MoreOrdinary Time XLI
Advent Eve I’m writing late and posting this prior to the start of Advent. I’ve been at this blogging-twice-weekly for two years now. That’s 190 posts. A few with pictures only. Some original poetry. Lots of stories. Original photos with…
Read MoreOrdinary Time XXXV
Travlin’ Down the Highway . . . As the trip continues, many new ideas and perspectives have emerged along the way in wide open vistas, deep canyons, dark caves and long stretches of highway . . . . Here are…
Read MoreOrdinary Time XXXIV
On the road again. . . . This week I’m on the road with my family. To have a little fun tracking through the trip, I’ll be posting six-word stories and pics. I stumbled onto the idea last week, and…
Read MoreOrdinary Time XX
So Noted My first conscious memory of note-writing comes from the elementary school. The teacher gave us lined paper. We had to learn the parts of a letter and fill in all out completely. Date. Name and address. Salutation. Body.…
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Slowing Down* Tuesday Morning – I’m out for a run in the neighborhood around the seminary. The day dawns clear and pleasant. I check my watch and calculate. I’ve got 30 minutes before I have to be back and showering…
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Tuesday. Two stories on NPR this morning gave me pause: Graphene and At Home: A Short History of Private Life. Rolling around in my head was an essay I had read on Monday evening, which raised the question of whether practical theology might best be thought of as art or science. In The Challenge of Practical Theology, Stephen Pattison argues that “sciencism” has run rough shod over, well, nearly everything. We are so enamoured by science, he says, that we measure most everything else against it.
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