Lord, teach me. . . .

Break my heart for what breaks yours, Everything I am for your Kingdom’s cause. –Hillsong Heartbroken. I have no doubt you’ve seen the news about George Floyd’s untimely, unnecessary death at the hands of police in Minneapolis. This event has me nearly speechless, even several days later. My heart hurts. It physically gives me pain to imagine anyone, let alone a police officer, having so little regard for another human life as to behave this way. Inconceivable. We are all God’s beloved children. The outside packaging, the variety of skin color, hair color, language spoken—all these things are what make God’s family so wonderful in its diversity. Imagine how boring Creation would be if there were only one birdsong, one fragrance of flowers—one shade of skin. It’s horrid enough that over 100,000 lives have been lost to COVID-19. Adding this senseless death to the nation’s misery is, for me, nearly the straw that could break the camel’s back. What to do? Pray. La...

If you have faith, then your whole life is put in a pew perspective.   You get to work but enjoy the work at the same time. If you grow spiritually, you do what’s in front of you  and let the results speak for themselves. –Roy Orbison This virus thing just goes on and on. The running gag is whether or not you know what day it is. We make up new days—my favorite is Sumotuwedthufrisat. I can use it every single day. The roller coaster of change is a stiff ride, isn’t it? I want off. I really do. But the cars are nowhere near the platform yet. We all have different ways of thinking we are handling things. Some work better than others. But in the midst of all this stuff is this truth: Part of what we are experiencing is grief . Some of us are grieving loved ones lost to the virus; others are grieving our freedoms, or the loss of accustomed lifestyles. Even simple things, like being able to just run to the store for a couple of things, instead of trying to limit...

Boundaries are to protect life, not to limit pleasures. --Edwin Louis Cole There are so many stories lately, stories about people taking drastic steps to protect myself and protect what’s mine . We hear about Ahmaud Arbery being shot because two men decided he was threatening what’s mine . About Breonna Taylor, shot eight times by police who entered her house unannounced while she and her partner slept. About men armed with the biggest guns they could find, surrounding a sandwich shop and making statements about protecting my freedom , in this case, the freedom not to wear a mask during the pandemic. (Please explain to me, then, why many of them were wearing masks while protecting their freedom not to?) We are becoming a nation of individuals, concerned about what’s mine and making sure I have everything I “need.” But what we seem to be forgetting is, we are called to take care of one another . Every breath we take, everything we have, comes from...

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark. –Rabindranath Tagore After a long, dark, challenging winter, spring is finally arriving on the North Coast, undeterred by the pandemic. The “early bird” crocuses and daffodils are giving way to irises and azaleas. Birdsong fills the morning air as singles become couples, and couples become families. The whole of Creation is in such a flurry of growth and activity, we might easily forget that it’s only been a few short months since the earth was quiet and still; at times, it seemed as though the darkness had won. (Sometimes, it still does.) It can feel that way in our spiritual lives, as well. Some days the weight of sadness or loss can seem almost unbearable. Try as we might, it may be nearly impossible to discern any light at all, or feel the loving gaze of the Almighty. But the light is there. God is there. And when the days once again begin to grow longer and brighter, one minute at a time, we can l...

Because forgiveness is like this: a room can be dank because you have closed the windows,  you’ve closed the curtains. But the sun is shining outside, and the air is fresh outside.  In order to get that fresh air, you have to get up and open the window and draw the curtains apart.  –Desmond Tutu It seems like this self-isolation thing has been going on for a very, very long time, doesn’t it? In Ohio, it officially started March 23. About six weeks ago. Now, people are getting antsy. Let us out , they say. It’s my constitutional right to go wherever I want, to shop and eat out and go to movies! In some states, the protests are crazy wild! But here’s the deal: We have always been allowed to leave our houses. It’s not like we are eight and Dad has confined us to our bedroom. Is it time to head to the nearest bar and get together for several rounds with friends? Nope. Not yet. If you like those friends as much as you say, you’ll miss them a whi...