Presby-Musings

  I have been reading about resilience lately, both for my own sake and because it's become quite the topic in our culture.   As part of its "Stress Less" mental health and wellness program, NPR recorded a podcast about the Resilience Challenge conducted by Northwestern University.  The challenge was to take 20 minutes out of your day to follow a guided reflection that is designed to help you develop resilience.   The program's website crashed after the podcast aired, and Northwestern quickly filled the 20,000 registration spots to participate. I've also noticed conversations about resilience popping up on my social media and news feeds, so something is clearly happening.  And I have a theory as to what that might be.   There is a higher percentage of people in the US walking around right now with elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and dread than at any other time in our nation's history.   We're oversaturated with news coverage designed to keep us anxiou

Once in a while, I read something that perfectly encapsulates my feelings in a way that I wish I could have expressed them.   The other day, I read a quote from former Olympic cycling gold medalist Kristin Armstrong that did just that, and I'd like to share it.  Here's what she said:  I write about the power of trying, because I want to be okay with failing. I write about generosity because I battle selfishness. I write about joy because I know sorrow. I write about faith because I almost lost mine, and I know what it is to be broken and in need of redemption. I write about gratitude because I am thankful - for all of it. I've never read anything that summed up why I do what I do any better than this.  Honestly, I could interchange the words "preach" and "teach" with "write," and it would still be true for me.   It took me a long time to truly understand the depth of my calling to be a pastor. When you're young, you sometimes follow your gu

The American Bible Society recently published the results of a survey conducted to measure stress levels in our culture and to determine what role reading the Bible regularly might have in alleviating it or creating it.  The results on levels of stress revealed:  “One-quarter of Americans are experiencing moderate levels of stress, and 10 percent are experiencing extremely high levels. Nearly half of respondents said they had trouble sleeping, 44 percent reported feeling tense, 44 percent said they were lonely and cut off from others, and 37 percent said they felt numb or detached.” Interestingly, those levels were higher among the respondents who indicated they read the Bible regularly than those who don't. There are many ways to interpret these findings. Some people may read the Bible more when stressed, while others may discover that reading it makes them more stressed because of how they interpret it.   There is another thing to consider, though.  Evangelical Christians are pro

In 2004, a therapist named Sarah Young wrote a book that would sell close to 50 million copies.  That book was Jesus Calling , a daily devotional that read like Jesus was inspiring you daily with words of encouragement and comfort.   While the words that Jesus spoke in Young's devotional were not quotes from Scripture, they were drawn from it. Young used her imagination to assume what Jesus might be saying to his followers today.  I recall being asked by a parishioner about this devotional many years ago, and my response then is the same today. I told them that for me personally, the devotional didn't really work, but I was not so obtuse that I couldn't see the book's value.   I also told them that the devotions were super positive and encouraging and that the author was undoubtedly fully aware that they weren't speaking for Jesus per se.  However, she was also doing her best to keep each of the daily readings within the lane of grace, peace, love, and hope, which

In 1711, the English philosopher penned these words:  To err is human---to forgive is divine. I have often pondered these words, their meaning and implications, but never more so when I feel raw and angry at someone who has grieved me.  That simple and powerful line subtly suggests that when we choose to forgive, we experience something of God within us.  It also acknowledges the frailty of our humanity, the part of ourselves that often stumbles and falls.  There is a beautiful brokenness about us that reminds us that we can't do everything alone, no matter how hard we try.  The impulse to forgive comes from within that brokenness but transcends it, drawing out what we could call the "image of God" from deep inside us.  But even though we may feel the impulse to forgive, so many of us tamp it down when it seeks to come to the surface.   We choose to be unforgiving.  We choose to hold on to our bitterness because we may deem the object of our forgiveness undeserving, or ou

Here's a newly edited Devo from the archives that I really needed to read today.  I hope it resonates with you, too.  When I was a kid, I remember being taught in Sunday school and in the Christian schools I attended that if I "had enough faith," I could do anything because God rewarded people who had "enough faith."   The verse that was most often cited for this remarkable assumption was Matthew 21:21, which reads:  Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. The context for this verse is a miracle that occurs when Jesus curses a fig tree to teach his disciples about the radical nature of the kingdom of God. The fig tree withers and dies, which causes the disciples to freak out a bit.   I understand that completely.  I would have freaked out, too.   I completely get that some people

One of the many notions developed in current culture (especially post-pandemic) is that online community can be as vital and dynamic as in-person community.   It requires less of us, to be sure.  All we need to do is log on to social media and attend a virtual gathering, and we can have conversations, share stories, life events, and much more without ever leaving the comfort of our couch.   We were forced to do it for nearly two years when the world was locked down, but the after-effects have been tremendous.   Even though we could finally attend in-person gatherings, concerts, and events and return to "normal" existence, something dramatically changed in our society.  What had been a slow journey toward a more virtual existence was accelerated rapidly, and now we are beginning to see that something has been lost along the way.   Let me explain.  I started reading a book of essays on the concept of community the other day, and I have to say that it's already given me a lo