The face tells the story. It was the women’s individual cycling road race at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Anna van der Breggen (center) won gold “by the width of a tire.” Emma Johansson (on left) got silver. And Elisa Borghini (on right) came in third for bronze. At the finish line,…
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Darrell and Barbara – an encounter with fellowship
A review of ‘differentiation’ and ‘integration.’ In A ‘problem’ with “Ask Jesus into your heart,” I introduced ‘differentiation’ and ‘integration’ to describe how individuals and organizations work to create their identify. They outline differences to distinguish themselves from others (differentiation) or similarities to show avenues of potential alignment (integration). I shared how Indigenous students in…
A ‘problem’ with “Ask Jesus into your heart”
I am 100% Ukrainian on both sides of my parental lineage. Raised in the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church and steeped in Ukrainian culture. It was a strong local church community with a large extended family network through heritage and marriage. Liturgy and rituals from the cradle to the grave. Baptism of babies had symbolic rites…
Her name was Merrilee
I wish I could find a picture of her. Especially when dressed in her clown costume to do a program with children. She was a woman born deaf but could communicate on levels that surpassed many ‘normal’ hearers. And I believe she was an active agent in saving my life. A plane and a son…
How much is enough? . . . Sometimes ‘less is more’
This picture reminds me of a childhood experience. An uncle offered me a choice between two coins: a nickel or a dime. He didn’t include a quarter. Of course I took the nickel. You know why. I was 5 years old. My awareness for the respective value of things was pretty much oriented towards ‘Bigger…
“You can do it . . . !”
“You can do it, Ron! You can do it!” Mile 17 or 18 of the New York City Marathon. What’s often called ‘hitting the wall.’ A point in the 26.2 miles where a runner longs to just collapse into a fetal position on the sidewalk. I had already shifted into an even slower gear than…
Mark and Crystal
It struck me how Mark was sitting with such a nurturing posture. His arms were comfortably surrounding Crystal with warmth and security. It reminded me of Jesus tenderly holding a lamb. If you can, enlarge the picture to see Mark and Crystal’s eyes, a window to the soul. Both have that look of pain from…
A Tale of Two . . . – “Can’t we all just get along?”
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1792). “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season…
Repenting of Religion
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and theologian in Germany, was killed by the Nazi regime just weeks before liberation of the prison camp by Allied troops. In his relatively brief life, Bonhoeffer set out a path for what he called ‘religionless Christianity.’ It was a call to reject ‘religiosity’ and embrace a living and active…
On ‘Repenting of Religion’
Note: This piece is an extension of the material in ‘Repenting of Religion.’ You may want to start there. (see Bookshelf). Repenting of Religion by Greg Boyd Boyd tees up against the deficiencies of organized religion. As a successful pastor, he is obviously trying to build the Church and local community of faith in positive ways….