Recently my step-dad, Paul, died.  He leaves a big hole in the lives of all of us who were his family and his friends.  He married my mom when I was 3 years old and they divorced after I left home for college.  It must not have been easy rearing 6 children on one coast and trying to maintain a relationship with…

When I was in seminary one of my best friends experienced the death of her father as a result of Hodgkins’ Lymphoma.  We were both in our mid-twenties which was way too young to be losing a father.  At that time in my life I had not yet lost a close family member.  After we were back at school together following his…

When the New Year began, I realized with a deep sigh that we were entering an election year.  My deep sigh was related to how much I have grown to despise what happens in election years.  The first few months usually consist of a party attacking itself followed by the choosing of a candidate and then the two parties attacking each other. …

In anticipation of Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday celebration this year, I re-read his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”  There is so much in that letter that is instructive for churches and pastors that each time I read it I find myself feeling challenged again.  It seems each reading of it leads me somewhere else. This year as I read it, I…