Lost, and Finding…

"I feel like a lost a year of my life." That's what I tell people, and it's true. Struggle and strife in my marriage, counseling and arguing, separation and paperwork, single parenting and legal questions still unresolved (and a broken ankle, too). All of these things seemed to suck away my energy and consume my…

The Great Divorce: Tension and Schism in the UMC

This blog post is part of a synchblog today on the topic of schism in the UMC. Please share your thoughts here, on the DreamUMC website, on your blog or facebook page, and tonight at 9 pm eastern on Twitter as we chat together. ----- Sadly, I have recent experience with splitting up. It's not…

Sermon: Falling Scales– Ananias and the Boston Bombing

"Falling Scales" (April 21, 2013) In the wake of the bombing in Boston this past week, we reflect on what it means to forgive, and to reach out to those we might call enemy, drawing on Jesus and the lesser known Ananias of Damascus as examples. (Acts 9:1-20) --- Before the sermon, I played this…

From Heartbreak Hill to Heartbreak

My family and I have a spot from which we like to watch the Boston Marathon. It's just at the top of a tiny hill, that by the time the runners climb it, 26 miles in, must feel like a mountain. The barely perceptible rise in Hereford Street seems insignificant to me as a spectator,…

But Have Not Love

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I…

Resisting the wilderness

I think I'm back. Huge life and family transitions sucked months and months of my life away; adding the Advent, Christmas, and New Year seasons on top practically turned me into a hermit. I feel like I woke up a few weeks ago, blinking my eyes into the sudden brightness, and marveled that there was…

Sermon: Against All Odds

"Against All Odds" (Christmas Eve, December 24, 2012) Jesus is born as the son of poor, unwed parents, as a Jewish man in the Roman Empire. Ours is a God accustomed to hope and love that transcend the odds stacked against us. May Christ be light to you in life's dark places this Christmas, and…

Sermon: The Songs of Herod, Rachael, and Mary

"The Songs of Herod, Rachael, and Mary" (December 16, 2012) In the aftermath of the shooting in Newtown, CT, what does it mean to hear again Mary's song of hope and thanksgiving in the face of King Herod's murderous jealousy? Are we bold enough to sing songs of praise with her? (Luke 1:46-55, Matthew 2:16-18)…

Jurisdictional Dreams

On July 23, DreamUMC hosted a Twitter Chat to reflect on the recent Jurisdictional Conferences of the United Methodist Church. In my opinion, this was one of our most exciting and fruitful conversations so far. We began by asking people in Question 1 to name the highs and lows from their Jurisdictional gatherings, or from…

Faith and Fallacies

My Staff Parish Relations Committee and I worked on our evaluation form last night. We dutifully and fruitfully prayed about and discussed the sense of living into Jesus the vine, and then engaged the questions on the sheet. The first one gave us trouble. We felt like the wires were a little crossed. ... Not…