When was the last time you felt invigorated by something you were working on? I do realize that question might work better for a different audience, a congregation where maybe only a few are retired. (Although if the stories you all tell me are true, you are busier in retirement than you were when you … read
CHRIS DELA CRUZ: The truth is, where our youth went this week was not a typical mission trip. In fact, though we changed the name to Youth Summer Service Trip, just calling it service is misleading as well. We were at the Yakama reservation with Native folks who identify as Christians. Annawanita, Director of S.L.A.M. … read
In the history of Christianity, no event can ever measure up to what happened in the year 323, when the Emperor Constantine declared that Christianity was the official religion of the Holy Roman Empire. That scrappy little church, once persecuted, once misunderstood as a cult that venerated cannibalism; that ragtag group of people … read
Speaking of the Trinity, someone once said that it’s not about two men and a bird. According to the liturgical calendar, today is Trinity Sunday, and my guess as to why it’s this particular Sunday goes something like this: we have finally acknowledged the three persons. God the Creator is always present; we have traveled … read
There are many Gregg Neel-isms, little phrases he likes to throw out every now and then, and one of the ones that drives me crazy is this: Don’t just do something, sit there! It makes me nutty when he says that because I am a do-er; I like to do things, accomplish things, fill up … read
James Baldwin once observed, “To be with God is really to be involved with some enormous, overwhelming desire, and joy, and power which you cannot control, which controls you. I conceive of my own life as a journey toward something I do not understand, which in the going toward, makes me better. I conceive of … read