How can it be at age 48 that I am already saying, “In my day…” such and such happened?  Alas, I am already old enough that I can reflect back to a different time.  In my day as a parent, the parenting philosophy of the time was that children should be given choices and then shown the natural consequences, both positive and…

Yesterday I had the privilege of hearing Jeff Clements speak at Montclair Presbyterian Church.  Jeff is a co-founder and general counsel of “Free Speech for People” and the author of “Corporations Are Not People:  Why They Have More Rights Than You Do and What You Can Do About It.”  He talked about a great deal of what is in his book regarding…

For the past four days I have been in Texas with the Rev. Dr. Janie Spahr and close to thirty other people traveling with her.  Janie was brought up on charges in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2006 for having performed marriage ceremonies for same sex couples.  Her case went all the way to the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission of the…

A few weeks ago on NPR’s Story Corps, there was a story told by a young man in his early 30’s who grew up in rural Kentucky.  Nathan Hoskins said he knew from an early age that he was gay.  He did all he could to hide it from his mother.  When he was in the sixth grade he met another boy…

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…

For decades I have watched women who were older than me make their journeys through menopause. As someone who is tall and lean, I am cold more than I am warm so when older women would break out in a sweat and complain, I remember thinking, “If only I could have a hot flash – at least I’d be warm.” When my wife would have a hot flash during the night and kick off the covers, I remember thinking, “Now that’s a little dramatic, isn’t it? It can’t be that bad…”

This morning on National Public Radio I heard a great article about children’s tantrums. The article featured the sounds of a little girl having a variety of tantrums with her parents’ voices in the background. These weren’t just your ordinary tantrums – if there is such a thing! Any of us who have ever had children probably remember the sounds and the experience.