Touchpoints from 2023
Word Swaddling
“It is a Word that can only be birthed in humbleness. This might sound trite, but maybe that’s the problem. I’m afraid to appear simple minded to others if I say the ord. This Word is available to all of us but we see it as ineffective, inefficient, and powerless. That Word is love. In my opinion, our modern culture does not see God as Word with the same fervency as the Jews and the Greeks did.”
Who Are You?
“Rather than entering the season as cynical adults, perhaps we should enter as children. I think children know the difference between Santa Claus and God better than we do. We sometimes think we are both. Maybe we should begin as a child, wondering who this God is, as though for the first time, rather than wondering who is behind the beard.”
Let’s Get Tattoos!
“At baptism it is not about our declaration of acceptance of God, it’s about our full acknowledgment of God’s reception of us! This mystery invites us into God’s heart. This mystery is the heartbeat in all people, whether aware of it or not. Though we may sin, doubt, judge, curse, deny, betray, we cannot remove the tattoo placed on our hearts as a reminder that we belong.”
Jesus at the Waffle House
“I don’t believe that God works in mysterious ways. I believe, our mysterious God works in familiar ways; we just need to open our eyes. That’s what it means to experience the second coming of Christ. For me, it is to be able to see Christ in others. Christ in this moment, where matter and spiritual connect. For me, it’s not what we believe about the future that matters, it’s how we experience the Second Coming of Christ breaking through.”
Damn Serious
“It causes me to ask myself, have I not evolved from euphoria and intellectual devotion? Have I become spiritually self-indulgent and neglected those God shows preference for in suffering? I can tell you that as a preacher, my words have not neglected them. My actions are what I would prefer to think about.”
It’s Absurd
“To paraphrase De Mello, it only takes a willingness to see things in a new way. This is what I like to tell my clients in AA. ‘You’re right, it’s not about willpower. Willpower doesn’t work. It’s our willingness and God’s power. If you are faced with repercussions for seeing things in a new way, you also may be invited into the ineffable presence and co-laboring nature of God, who is not anything like the master in this story.'”
Present to the Finish
“In our spiritual life, to be present is the goal, not Bible reading. Contemplative practices are not the Mystery, they are the means to be present to the Mystery.”
Random Acts of Narcissism
“I have encountered many in recovery who believe their addiction prevents them from intimacy with God. They say their goal is to get closer to God again. My answer to sinners is the same as to addicts, as they are both the same: “You can’t get any closer to God then you are. To be separate is an illusion.” Our practices of awareness open us to experience what always was and is. God is always inviting us to the experience of holy mingling. What better earthly seat is there, what title, what place in line? We are seated in heavenly places!”
The G.O.A.T.
“All the laws hang on these two commandments and those commandments defer to the real, genuine greatest of all time. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting goat bumps! What if all our efforts to legislate law in our personal lives and communal lives needed to be filtered by these two commandments? What would be different?”
A New Song
“It appears to me that Jesus is constantly trying to save people from themselves… from our egos searching for identity and value in the wrong places. Doesn’t it seem like that to you? These guys come to him and say, “What is your opinion on Caesar’s empire built on unfair taxes?” Jesus says in effect, ‘Here’s what I think of your unfair tax. You rob people of their assets for a coin that is worth much less.'”
Inner Light, Outer Darkness
“Outer light illumines what we see. Inner light illumines what we can’t see. When our outer world brings us to our knees in darkness, we must attempt to create our own light. Like the man serving a life term, we must depend on the inextinguishable light.”
Rejected
“Over the past three and a half years, there have been many times when I wondered if the Board was right in the first place by overlooking me as a serious candidate. I have questioned my ability to lead this ministry. Maybe a big piece of the stone that left me broken and crushed ended up as a chip on my shoulder… left me needing to prove I belonged here, in this position, leading this ministry, without the credentials that were so important to those in charge.”