Every weekday morning, our alarm goes off at 5:30am. After getting up, getting moving, tending to the dog and the cat, I head to the gym. I step onto the treadmill and look at my watch. It is almost always 6:01am as I press the “Start” button. (Or, 6:02am if I’m moving slowly.) I do … More Like Clockwork
Towards the end of my trip to the southeast, I drove from Atlanta up to Charlotte, North Carolina. There, I spent some time with Pastor Scott Suskovic, the senior pastor at Christ Lutheran Church. I had met Pastor Scott a few times, at the “Senior Pastors of Large ELCA Congregations” conference that I participate in … More Visiting Christ Lutheran in Charlotte
Sabbatical Day 12 This morning, Lori and I went on a hike to see some more of the area waterfalls. Then, this afternoon, we grabbed books and a couple of adirondack chairs next to the water and spent a couple of hours reading and staring at the lake. I would read for awhile, and then … More The Currents are Strong
I have a recurring task set up on my computer’s “to-do” program for noon, every Tuesday. At that time, I get a reminder that pops up on my screen that says “Let the Dog Out.” On Tuesdays, before the pandemic, Lori would go all day to the Twin Cities for her work. And because we … More Let the Dog Out
One day, this will all be over. The majority of people will have received the vaccine, and we will again be free to sit close to each other, to take our masks off, and to shelve the term “socially distance.” I’m not sure when yet, but it will happen. One day. One day, this will … More One Day…
On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy took the podium at Rice University to speak to a crowd of 40,000 people. It was a hard time: Our nation was struggling. Viet Nam was escalating. The Bay of Pigs incident had taken place the year prior. The cold war was heating up, and our nation, … More It is Time
As election day approaches, the intensity of the rhetoric will continue to dial itself up. In this extremely polarized election year, there are only a small number of people who consider themselves “undecided.” And both major campaigns are pulling out all of the stops to try and get these people’s attention, and to persuade them … More Neighbors First – Politics Second
Dear friends, I hope you are well and healthy! During this strange time in our life together as a community, I wanted to give you an important update on the state of Trinity Lutheran Church. We’ve been living together in this time of the pandemic now for well over a month, and as the church, … More An Important Update on the State of the Church
As human beings, we sometimes miss things. We just do. We’ve all done it. We are supposed to see, or do, recognize something…and we just don’t. I think we can all admit that it happens to us. A few examples of what I’m talking about: A colleague of mine at my last congregation was doing … More Take a Walk
He is risen! He is risen indeed! On a normal Easter Sunday, before the worship begins, the pastors and the choir would be gathered at the back doors, the lights would be darkened. There would be a brass fanfare in the balcony and then I would shout out the words that Christians have been saying … More Not Your Average Easter
Test Driving Theology 