What do you say to someone who has suffered a great loss? This is a question all of us face at some point in our lives. It’s certainly a question pastors, chaplains, and anyone whose work focuses on offering consolation to the broken-hearted encounter regularly. As a trained disaster/crisis chaplain I have been deployed twice […]
The Klan Comes to Town
Originally published in the Journal Review, August 2014 When I was twelve years old my parents took me to a Ku Klux Klan rally in downtown Crawfordsville. It wasn’t because they supported the Klan, quite the contrary. Rather, they wanted me to see, to be exposed to the fact that this was a real and […]
17 Things to Do This Week
Get out and live. Get to know the people in your neighborhood. Create more than you consume. Don’t let opinions on social media affect how you treat or even think about others. Go for a walk. Go for a run. Have a drink with a friend. Have a meal with an enemy. Get together with […]
World Refugee Day: A Moral Imperative
June 20th is designated as World Refugee Day. This year it is also the day the UNHCR reported that the number of refugees and displaced persons has exceeded 60 Million for the first time since the organization began keeping track in 1950. Over 60 Million. That means one in every 113 people living on the […]
On the Christian Response to the Orlando Shootings
“I am so sick of this! I can’t believe people say those kinds of things!” My fourteen year old son burst through the door, visibly agitated. We could barely discern exactly what he was trying to communicate. But it was certainly urgent, and it appeared to have something to do with social media. “Ugh, more […]
What Has Corinth To Do With America?
I’ve been reading through the writings of the “Apostolic Fathers” recently. These works, some pastoral letters in the same vein as St. Paul’s epistles, others sermons, others accounts of martyrdom or histories, have one things in common: their connection to the Early Church, the Christians in the time just after the time of the Apostles. […]
Awake at the Airport
I recently had to travel by plane to a church conference. Anyone who has been in an airport, especially since 9/11 knows about the high focus on security. In airports this focus is not just in the hands of the TSA workers and law enforcement, but there is also an expectation that everyone be vigilant […]
Why I Must Oppose Donald Trump: One Priest’s Perspective
I am becoming more convinced that the era of argument is over. Whether in the public sphere, or sadly, even among family and friends, or communities I have witnessed the very swift decline of exchange of ideas, benefit of doubt, and allowance of nuance. I have certainly been guilty of contributing to this decline, perhaps […]
Winning
Winning At any cost Is not a Christian practice Power At the expense of another Is not a Gospel teaching Wealth Does not equal wisdom Nor authority Winning Does not equal strength Nor Righteousness #pastorsagainsttrump its not about politics. its about the gospel.
Opinions
“A truly humble person never behaves like a teacher; he will listen, and, whenever his opinion is requested, he responds humbly. In other words, he replies like a student. He who believes that he is capable of correcting others is filled with egotism.” – St. Paisios the Athonite I read that quote at some point […]
