Lord, teach me. . . .

Experts always know everything but the fine points. –Hedy Lamarr It happens all the time. It’s one of those things every pastor and every seminary student has experienced. We smile, we shake our heads in puzzlement—but it still happens: at potlucks, at parties and meetings, even random social gatherings. The time comes to get things started. Eyes frantically search the room, looking . . . looking . . . aha! There she is! Heidi, would you mind praying for us? Now, don’t get me wrong: I don’t mind. I believe prayer is a spiritual gift, and I’ve been gifted. It just strikes me (and many pastors) as ironic that when it comes time to say grace over a church dinner, it seems we need an “expert” to do so. When it comes to prayer, the playing field has been completely leveled. There is nothing about my seminary degree that makes my prayers any more pleasing to the Creator than the quiet whispers of a child, or the tangled, anguished gibberish of a broken, hurting teen

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit."   - Psalm 34:15-22 (This week’s thoughts are from Quinn G. Caldwell, via Still Speaking , a publication of the United Church of Christ.) This one's a no-brainer. When it comes to the down-on-their-luck and the never-had-any-luck, the down-at-the-heels and the can't-afford-any-heels, the downcast and the cast-off, God is a big ole softie. Like a little old lady who can't stop taking stray cats into her house, God won't stop going to the crushed in spirit and taking them into God’s own heart. Unlike the cat lady, however, God actually has all it takes to give every one of those spirits a good forever home. And you're part of the plan.   You know somebody with a broken heart. I know you do. So here's today's assignment: be a big old softie. Go visit or call him or her on the phone and say, "I've been thinking about you. How are you?" Then listen, hard.

By salvation, I mean, not barely (according to the vulgar notion) deliverance from hell, or going to heaven, but a present deliverance . . . the renewal of our souls after the image of God in . . . justice, mercy and truth. –John Wesley A few weeks back, we reflected on faith vs. works. Which is more important as Christians: what we believe, or how we live our lives? My belief is, it’s both. In coming to believe in the tremendous love and grace God offers us, the joy that fills the soul spills over, leading us to want, more than anything, to share that love with others. So this week, another question: What do you believe is meant by the word salvation ? Many Christians believe salvation is an individual affair. Christ died for my sins, and because he saved me, when I die I will be welcomed into God’s Kingdom and spend all of eternity in the loving company of Jesus. Other Christians will tell you that salvation was, indeed, Christ’s mission in the world. But his m

In order to experience everyday spirituality, we need to remember that we are spiritual beings spending some time in a physical body. –Barbara de Angelis Years ago, Friedrich Nietzsche made the news with this statement: God is dead . Now, today, polls from Gallup, Pew and others are making a similar pronouncement: The Church is dying . In the past, when asked, people identified their faith with the church they attended: Baptist, Catholic, Methodist. But recent polls have shown declines, nearly across the board, among “traditional” religious groups, and a steady rise among members of a previously unnamed group, the SBNRs. Spiritual. But Not Religious . The definition of SBNR is a bit nebulous, but generally refers to folks who hunger for “something more ,” but don’t look for (or find) it in church. Many SBNRs will tell you they experience God (by whatever name they call him/ her) in nature, away from the busyness of the world and everyday life. And—they feel that’s r

Life could be a dream If I could take you up in paradise up above, If you would tell me I’m the only one you love— Life could be a dream, sweetheart. (Hello! Hello again!) –The Overtones Tennis, anyone? Life is many things, depending on whom you ask. Life is short (then you die). Life is unfair. Life is a journey. Life—is a game to be played? Which game, you might ask. Again, it depends whom you ask. For many, Life is like Monopoly : keep moving, draw that salary, pay your taxes if you must and accumulate as much of the best stuff as you can possibly afford/ Take what you want from the other “players,” until you are the Last Man (or Woman) Standing. Or maybe Life is more like Sorry! Take your turn, knock your opponent out of play, cry, “Sorry!” and keep on keepin’ on. The goal is to finish first and finish strong. But I think, if Life is a game, maybe it’s best played more like a tennis match. Oh, sure, there are days when I feel like cowering in t

No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. –Max Lucado When I was in seminary, on the first day of one of my classes, the professor gave each of us a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. I still have mine; it’s green like grass, I think—or maybe sky blue. It’s been in my coin purse so long, the colors are scratched and faded. The layers have begun to pull apart, and the edges are wearing smooth. (Life can do that to you sometimes.) Dr. K gave us the puzzle piece for a reason, of course. It’s to remind us that we are each part of a much bigger picture, a picture that is incomplete without me . And even if my piece seems to look a lot like every other piece of sky or grass, in the Bigger Picture, each piece has its own unique place, its own special purpose. In God’s Kingdom, no one is more (or less) important than I am. We all fit together. Perfectly. But there’s another reminder there, too: I don’t need to be big or flashy, or try to do everything in a big way, to mak

We wish we had an omniscient, maybe even omnipotent umpire who would resolve everything so that everyone would just know the truth. (There’s God, of course, but whose opinion of God shall we take as authoritative?) –David Gushee There are regular conversations (read: debates) among Christians about what marks a true disciple, and how one finds one’s way to heaven. There tend to be two camps: the “faithers” and the “worksers.” The faith group believe the only way to heaven and eternal bliss is to correctly profess one’s faith in Jesus, repent of one’s sins—and you’re in ! That’s it! For this group, faith and belief are focused on the next life; it’s all about being saved from eternal hellfire. What happens in this temporary life isn’t all that important. (I am being simplistic and a wee bit cynical here.) The works group, on the other hand, believes Christians will be known by their love for one another, and that is what matters most. Knowing Jesus personally is less