Every fall I practice magical thinking along the lines of, “This year we’ll get to keep summer-length daylight.” And every year about this time, I concede the point and give it up as a lost cause. We’re heading into the very darkest time of the year, the season of overcast, with night that stretches into … read
Being a pastor is a weird thing. People – especially people who don’t do church – have no idea how we spend our days and imagine we have a direct line to God, our trusted counselor and mentor and advisor. I would reckon that every pastor I know has been asked how she or he … read
When have we used our power in a way that honors and cares for others? And when have we been at our worst? Let me hear what you will speak when I turn to You in my heart. . . (Let us hear. . .) In 2010, I had the gift of a sabbatical grant … read
Some of you had the great pleasure of knowing Mary Jean Pagter, a member of Westminster who for the last few years lived in Eugene and who died earlier this year. Gregg and I did not have that pleasure, but we enjoyed notes from Mary Jean now and then, and we drove by her yellow-orange … read
Last Monday and Tuesday, I attended the presbytery’s preaching seminar at Menucha. When I told my colleagues I was preaching on the Ten Commandments today, the news was universally greeted with groans. Maybe it was sympathy, but most of my colleagues either had never preached on the Commandments, or they had done it as part … read