Presby-Musings

  Today we are going to continue our journey through the Season of Epiphany.  Epiphany is a season of surprises, unexpectedness, and wonder.  It's a season that offers us many gifts as we begin to understand more fully who Jesus is and what Jesus came to do.  Today we are going to explore how Epiphany offers us the gift of common ground. When we realize the truth of the Incarnation---that God became one of us in order to rescue all of us... it has the power to change how we see one another... in spite of our differences.  As we reflect on this past year and the tumultuous election, and the aftermath, we have to face facts.  There are some deep divisions within our society, and they seem to grow deeper all of the time.   What do we do when it feels like the divisions between us are too great to overcome?  I don't know about you, but when I peruse my social media pages, I get more and more disheartened.   It feels sometimes like I don't even recognize some of the people I tho

  One of my favorite things to do each day is to check the "Memories" link on my Facebook page.  Each day I will get a glimpse of what I was doing on the same day in years past.   These daily excursions down memory lane are often bittersweet, funny, downright sad, and occasionally instructive.   The other day I saw a post that a former church member posted many years ago. She was thanking me for a sermon I preached.  She went on to publicly extol my virtues, telling me what a great pastor I was, and how much she appreciated my leadership.  That particular memory made me chuckle a bit because not even a year after she posted that panegyric message, the woman and her husband angrily left the church.  When I reached out to them to find out what was wrong, I received a blistering reply about how I was a "false prophet," who was leading people astray.  It was pretty gutting at the time because of everything they'd said about me in the past.   As I reflected on all of

It has certainly been the "winter of our discontent..."   Like many of you, I have had my own struggles these past few months as the COVID news has been grim, the shut-downs continue and the political scene has been... well, difficult.  I'm not great at hiding my emotions at times.  I'm also not great at being magnanimous and merciful when I'm feeling worried, filled with grief, and angry.  I'm a work in progress, and I need Jesus.  But when I step back a bit, I find myself seeing all of these travails and tribulations as a sign of something more.   Mind you, I don't read into them as some sort of prophetic indicator of the end of the world, or harbingers of Armageddon and other wrong-headed apocalyptic notions.   I see them the way that the Apostle Paul saw them in his day.  I see them as a sign of new birth, new life... of the arrival of the new things that God is constantly creating all around us, all of the time.   I see them as a reminder that Christ

I grew up in the fundamentalist Christian world, enveloped in a tradition that was grounded in white Christian nationalism, not-so-subtle racism, an unhealthy adherence to biblical literalism, super misogynistic traditions, and really, really bad 70's hair-dos.  Seriously, I grew up thinking that bee-hive hair for women and combed over pompadours on preachers were not at all that odd.   But in spite of everything (including the hair-dos), I do have some fond memories of my upbringing within those flawed faith communities.  And let's be honest... what faith community isn't flawed, am I right?   Along those lines... I  got to thinking about my high school basketball coach and youth pastor the other day.  He was one of the many good-hearted, kind folks I encountered in my youth---people who didn't let the structures and strictures of the fundamentalist world turn them into angry, judgemental Christians.   I remember him taking time with me, letting me tag along when he ran

I've been thinking a lot today about how hard it is to feel God's presence in the world sometimes.  I know that might seem a shocking admission to some of you, but I've learned that it's better to face these kinds of challenges rather than just sweep them under the rug.  Doubts are simply a part of faith, after all.  I have a feeling that there are more than a few of us who ponder what God is up to when things aren't going all that great in the world, or in our own lives.   So how do you know that God is there---especially when things are hard?  How can you feel God's presence, when you feel all alone in the universe?  How do you hear God's voice when you cry out and all you get is what feels like stony silence?   I  don't have an easy answer to this, I'm afraid.  I mean, the answer seems  easy, but it's actually really complicated.  The good news is there is some simplicity on the other side of the complexity---which is kind of a universal patte

Some years ago, I attended a weekend retreat called Understanding Yourself and Others .  My wife had urged me to go after she'd attended and emerged with a kind of quiet confidence and peace I'd never seen in her before.  I  figured I'd give it a try.  It would prove to be one of the most formative experiences I've ever had---one that changed the course of my life and ultimately set me on a path that eventually led to my becoming a pastor.  I've been thinking a lot lately about that first retreat, and the subsequent retreats I attended over the following two years as an assistant and sponsor.   Today I woke up thinking about one of the instructors---a good and kind man named Dale, who was probably one of the most loving people I have ever met.  He also taught me some valuable lessons about showing and receiving grace.   Dale once said that the key to compassion and empathy is the realization that every single one of us is doing the best we can with what we have to w

Earlier this week when I was watching the Inauguration, and I heard Amanda Gorman, the nation's first youth poet laureate, read her poem The Hill We Climb,  I got emotional.   It started with a huge lump in my throat that turned into full-fledged ugly crying as she read the last line:   When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it. If you have been a regular reader of the Daily Devos over the past several years, you know I love a good poem.  When you want to truly capture the essence of a feeling in ways that transcend dry-as-toast explanations... you need a poet to do it properly.   There was so much I loved about that last line because it spoke to a hopeful future beyond all of the deep, fissures, and great gulfs that have been created between us and our fellow citizens in recent years.   The light we seek to lead us forward into

I read that President Biden attended Mass in the morning prior to the Inauguration.  I looked at the Gospel reading for the Mass for yesterday, and discovered it was from Mark 3:1-6 which reads:  1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 And they watched him, to see whether he would heal him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come here." 4 And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Hero'di-ans against him, how to destroy him. I mentioned the whole way I came to this passage as a way of making some connections to the rocky road ahead of us t

Today's Daily Devo is a bit different than usual.  I felt compelled to write an open letter to our new President (by noon today) as a prayer of sorts and a plea.   To President-Elect Biden,  Today you will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States after what has been the most contentious and divisive election in modern history.  Some historians have written that our country is the most divided it has been since the Civil War.   Millions of my fellow citizens still believe that you won the election because of fraud, and they seem unwilling or unable to consider otherwise.   There is so much misinformation, fear, hysteria, rage, and downright hatred within our public discourse right now and most of it has been stoked by cynical political leaders who seek to divide us all for their own personal gain.   The recent violent attack on our nation's capital is the culmination of how lies and misinformation have twisted the hearts and minds of so many people--so much so that

I remember as a little kid listening to a Sunday school teacher tell the story of The Great Flood from the book of Genesis in the Hebrew Scriptures.  She related to us how Noah built his ark, and how all of the animals went into it two-by-two, single file.  As I listened to her, I started thinking about what she was saying and how improbable it seemed.  I started asking questions:  Me:  "How did they fit millions of species of animals into the ark?  It doesn't seem like it's big enough based on how it's described?"  Teacher:  "Don't you think God could have made the ark miraculously bigger inside than outside?"  Me: "Okay, well what did they feed all of the animals?  Wouldn't the carnivorous animals want to eat the other animals?  How did that work?" Teacher: "God made all of the animals become vegetarians while they were on the ark."  Me: "Well, what about the dinosaurs?  You said once that there were dinosaurs then beca

Today as a nation we honor the memory of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by celebrating what is now a national holiday, recognized by all 50 states.    The fight for this national holiday was contentious.  While the bill passed in 1983  (Despite the efforts of a filibuster by the former Klu Klux Klan member and long-time segregationist Senator Jesse Helms) , it wasn't fully celebrated as a national holiday until 1986.  And further, several Southern states promptly combined Martin Luther, King, Jr. Day with holidays that uplifted Confederate leader Robert E. Lee, who was born on January 19. It wasn't until the year 2000 that every state in the Union finally celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and to this day some Southern states still try to do it in conjunction with celebrations of Confederate figures.   These kinds of sad facts have largely been swept under the rug, but it's high time we confronted them.   This past year we have had to come face to fac

Today we are continuing our journey through the season of Epiphany.   Epiphany is a season within the historic rhythms of the church where we are given the chance to be surprised by the truth of who Jesus is and what Jesus came to do.   Epiphany also offers us the gift of transformation as we allow the wonder of Christ's presence to change us, and the world around us.   One of the main issues that the Gospel writers and indeed the Apostle Paul and all of the authors of the New Testament wrestled with is simply this:  What does it mean to be transformed by the new thing God is doing through Christ?   Over and over again we see throughout the New Testament that those early Christians were being exhorted by the apostles and early church leaders to be alert to what God was doing, to stay awake... and to listen for God's voice.  Today we are going to take a fresh look at an old Sunday school story from the book of 1 Samuel, a story that occurs hundreds of years before Christ... but

I like to be right about things.  In fact, I take no small amount of pleasure in moments where I have been debating something with one of my family members (especially one of my kids) when they have to finally admit that I was right about what I was saying.   While I am typically magnanimous in my victory, I may have also been known to perform a celebratory dance, or punctuate the moment with words like, "Boom! Roasted!" or "That's right, I'm right!"   Being right is so very, very satisfying.   Until it isn't.   Because sometimes our desire to be right feels incredibly wrong for others.  Sometimes our desire to be right causes us to wound the ones we love, to do harm to our relationships, and even to blind us to the fact that what we perceive as right is actually... not right.  And there are times when the choices we have before us don't feel right at all.  In fact, we might even know  in our heart of hearts that no matter what we choose, we might ac

I made the mistake of watching some of the debate on the floor of the House of Representatives today on the article of impeachment of President Trump.  It was a poor decision, to be sure.   After a few minutes, I had to go outside and sit quietly in the sunshine and listen to the birds' chirp for a while.  My spirit is full of disquiet and I have to be honest with y'all... I'm not feeling a whole lot of hope for unity in this fractured country of ours.  I'm not sure where we go from here, to be honest.  What I do know is that I am tired as tired can be.  I couldn't get that line from Stephe King's Green Mile  out of my head just now:   “I'm tired, boss... I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world...every day. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head...all the time. Can you understand? ...” Aren't you tired?  I know some of you are---just as tired as you can get