Lord, teach me. . . .

  Never stop learning, because Life never stops teaching.   –Lin Pernille On our journey, we have almost arrived at Epiphany , or Twelfth Night. Epiphany literally means to shine a light on , or reveal . In our Christian tradition, Epiphany refers to the arrival of the Wise Ones and their proclamation of the Christ Child as the one about whom much was prophesied. It marks the end of the journey to Bethlehem, but the beginning of a much longer journey: a journey of learning more . The thing about the Wise Ones was, they never stopped learning. They never let their belief in a Supreme Divine keep them from seeking greater knowledge. They truly believed that faith and knowledge were two facets of the same gemstone. They didn’t contradict one another; rather, the one enhanced the other. And in that enhancement, they took turns. For instance. From the beginning, the Wise Ones saw a star that shone in the East. The Wise Ones were, we believe, from Persia—which already...

  Something a little different this week. I invite you to sit with Howard Thurman’s beautiful words and let them sink into your heart. May Peace, Hope, Joy—and Love be yours.   Christmas returns, as it always does, with its assurance that life is good. It is the time of lift to the spirit,      When the mind feels its way into the commonplace,      And senses the wonder of simple things: an evergreen tree,      Familiar carols, merry laughter. It is the time of illumination,      When candles burn, and old dreams      Find their youth again. It is the time of pause,      When forgotten joys come back to mind, and past dedications renew their claim. It is the time of harvest for the heart,      When faith reaches out to mantle all high endeavor,      And love whis...

  We all want to just live a simple life, but nobody really knows how to do that. –Cameron Britton   We got a new television this week. It’s a “smart TV,” and it makes me feel kinda dumb. In the “good old days,” when you brought home the TV, all you had to do was plug it in the wall and turn it on. That’s it. No remote control except the kids. Maybe you’d need to add an antenna, and it might take two people to get those rabbit ears adjusted just right . But it was that easy. Lawrence Welk was in our living room before we knew it. This time . . . ugh. There’s a code to type in. And a really complicated remote control. And literally hundreds of channels to choose from (but a current contract dispute keeps us from getting one of our favorites)! I miss simple. During this pandemic, I suspect I am not alone. People are learning old practices as new things: baking bread, taking long walks instead of going to the gym. Staying home. Even the holidays have gotten complica...

  Trust not tomorrow! Whatever you are planning, today is the best day to act! --Mehmet Murat ildan   She is four-and-a-half years old, with beautiful blue eyes that dance with life, flowing blonde curls that would draw the envy of a princess. And she is my granddaughter. This past week, we got our first snowfall—and it was a doozie! Officially, we got over a foot of the white stuff, heavy and wet. Trees sagged under the weight; branches creaked, groaned—and snapped. Cars’ wheels whined and drivers cursed, as they misjudged the depth and paid for their error. Even buses and plows struggled. For a Tuesday, it felt an awful lot like a Monday for many  In my daughter’s house, around about six o’clock, the light broke through. Princess Golden Curls came down the stairs, took one look outside—and began racing around and around, through the living room and kitchen, eyes alight and curls a-flying. THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE !   Ov...

  In ancient times, cats were worshipped as gods. They have not forgotten this. –Terry Pratchett   Jesus talks of a day when the nations will stand before the Son of Man and be separated, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The closer we read the story, the clearer it becomes: we are all sheep. And we are all goats. But few f us actually raise sheep or goats any more.  What if we changed the animals up? What if the animals representing us were dogs and cats? Think about it:  Dogs are always excited to see us, sometimes overly so. Cats tend to ignore even their favorite humans unless necessary.  When we are sick or in pain, dogs still demand attention; cats are willing to simply be with us in our sadness or pain. Dogs greet each day as a new adventure, ready and eager to engage with everyone and everything; cats are equally curious—in their own (sometimes annoying) ways.  Some days, we are all eager like dogs: ready to go, some...

  We have met the enemy, and he is us. –Pogo (I am writing a post I really don’t want to write, but am finding I can’t not write.)  It’s likely that over the past week or so, you’ve caught wind of the annual “War on Christmas” being waged over Starbucks and their seasonal coffee cups. If you’ve been fortunate enough to miss the hubbub, here it is, in a nutshell:  In years past, Starbucks has created wintry cups adorned with symbols of the season: snowmen, snowflakes, reindeer. But in 2015, they chose to issue a plain red cup. No decorations. And this led some angry, conservative Christians to claim that Starbucks is “declaring war on Christmas.” Seriously? All this over a disposable coffee cup? Who gives a flying . . . reindeer? (The fancy cups have since returned; the War is over [for now].) Here’s what I believe: God did not come in to the world in human form to teach us how to decorate coffee cups. God did not come to model taking offense over how we gree...

  Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to a job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it. –Ellen Goodman   Zoom meetings have become the new way of gathering at a distance during this pandemic. I don’t have a lot of them, but I have had my share, and I smile because—well, because we are a funny species. The thing about Zoom is, you can only see the person, at the most, from the waist up. And you can see whatever they carefully place in their background, but that’s it. Hardly a complete picture of who they are, or where they work. And yet I admit it: when I have a Zoom meeting with my Association Minister or influential colleagues, I choose my shirt carefully (while still wearing my comfy jeans). I have been known to sit in the less-than-comfortable highback chair (and regret it lat...