A (Real Life) Parable

I walk my dog with some intentional vigor. Early in the morning. There is a routine. Because I live in Michigan, I start with multiple layers of clothing depending on the weather. Shoes and socks, obviously. A hat, either a stocking cap or a baseball hat comes next. For lots of the year I use a reflective vest since my […]

Stomach Ache?

As we make our way through this topsy-turvy virus crisis with all it ups and downs… deaths, tests, ventilators, layoffs, quarantines, wet markets, statistics… does your stomach ache? Did you know that motion sickness is caused by a confusion in your brain between your inner ears and eyes that ends up on your stomach? If you are traveling by car, […]

A Wordy Week?

I am that guy.  There may be a wire loose. I can’t help but speak a clever comment back whenever people say something.  (Clever to me!)  Whether it is at a meeting, in a conversation or at a chance meeting with a neighbor on the street, I not only have something to say, I have a clever comeback to whatever […]

Principled Crisis Management

There is a lot of crisis management happening. Hospitals. Governmental agencies. Businesses. Congregations. Families. Over the last thirty days all of us have made countless decisions, countless adjustments, countless changes. Where will we go? Where we will not go? What will we do? What will we not do? Cover? Gather? Withdraw? Test? Something is becoming clear in my decision making. […]

Sidewalk Chalk

Danger. Pandemic. Economic chaos. Unemployment. Medical supplies. Government over-reach or is it under-reach? I saw some sidewalk chalk art on a driveway this week. Whatever kids lived there, I had never seen kids there, must have gotten bored with on-line education, playing video games or snap-chatting. And with no organized soccer games to go to, a working-from-home mom or dad […]

Something I Didn’t Expect

Talk about a week of great significance! I must have made about 100 different decisions to figure out how to move forward in congregational ministry given the impact of the virus crisis. (I refuse to use the scary name it has been given because that just drives fear.) One of the things that was clear right away was that we […]

New For This Week

Beginning this week on Fridays I plan to share something particularly significant from the week as it draws to a close. Shouldn’t be hard to find something this week!