by Greg | Jan 21, 2015 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
One fall morning, when I was a little boy of eight years old, I took it upon myself to leave the house and explore the vast pastures and woods of our farm. In the past my daddy and granddaddy walked every acre with me, but this was the first time I struck out on my own and by myself – and without the consent or knowledge of anyone else! I traipsed directly to the creek that dissected our land, found a narrow pass and jumped over to the other side. I figured that soon I should be climbing a familiar hill that would overlook the pastures with the dairy cows grazing on one side and the creek bottoms on the other. Instead I came to another creek – this was a surprise – and it seemed to me it was on the wrong side. Then and there it slowly occurred to me that I was not exactly lost, but rather confused. I had walked in a circle. For the last century researchers have puzzled over why when we walk we generally do not travel in a straight line, especially without a fixed point. This is also true for swimming and driving a car. Without a fixed point we tend to travel in circles. Scientists and engineers can put a man on the moon, but there is still not a good answer as to why we travel in circles, even when we think we are going straight ahead. By the way, I do not recommend you drive a car blindfolded to test this theory out, but I am told...
by Greg | Jan 14, 2015 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
“Every man looks upon his wood pile with a sort of affection.” Henry David Thoreau All of my life I have enjoyed the blessings of the generosity of others. This includes procuring firewood. I have friends in the church that have allowed me to cut wood, gather wood, and at times some have delivered wood practically to my doorstep. Few things in housekeeping are more satisfying than a generous stack of firewood. Thoreau continued his soliloquy on firewood writing, “I love to have mine before my window, and the more chips the better to remind me of my pleasing work.” Yet no matter how grand the stack, as winter’s chill sets in so goes the wood. Firewood was meant to burn to warm both home and heart. The cycle of generosity repeats itself: find, cut, split and deliver more wood year in and year out. We spend our days accumulating and then in time we begin giving it all away. I have been reminded of this lesson of late as I know of several in our church family who are “downsizing” from larger homes to smaller ones. There is the sentimental and at times painful sorting through a lifetime of artifacts trying to determine what to keep, what to give away and what to throw out. Meanwhile the concentric circles of life grow smaller and smaller. Such is life. It is at this liminal and sacred place that grants us space to reflect on what it is in this world that is most valuable and what it is that we will take with us...
by Greg | Dec 24, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
As I write this I am in between Christmas Eve services. Our family service has concluded and hundreds of “children of all ages” are happily making their way to home and celebration. In less than an hour our sanctuary will fill to capacity. If we are honest (and of course we should be) we envy the full and busy. To want and to languish is hardly sought out or admirable. A few of us even brag about such fullness by working hard and never having enough time, feigning remorse saying “Maybe we can find some time next week.” Tonight in churches throughout this land the weary worshippers will ease into their pews only to nervously wonder if they have shopped enough, cooked enough, planned enough. “Maybe there is something more I can do…just one more thing.” We fill our time and our bellies with so much that there is not really room for much else. Please know I like the fullness of it all, especially this time of year. There is joy in the over-indulgence of celebrating and singing and eating. The kingdom of God is often compared to a feast and what better time to feast and over-indulge than Christmas, the very celebration of more. I wonder though if we also stuff and stow and fill our lives because we fear the emptiness. That is, we fear the silence, the unknowing, the stillness. Look at what centers us this night – a manger that at this moment is empty. I wonder about what or who was in that stable where the empty manager stood....
by Greg | Dec 22, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
For the last 15 or so years I have made it a point to read everything this former Poet Laureate has written – and he has written much as a poet and essayist. When I came across his most recent published manuscript in a compact little bookstore in lower Manhattan there was no question in my mind that this little tome was going home with me. It may sound grim, but occasionally I will search on Google to see if Donald Hall is still alive. To date he is 86 and according to these essays his physical health is sinking irreversibly into gravity’s destination. Though his body is failing, his mind and his writing are as penetrating as ever. He remarks that as he has aged “poetry abandoned me” but prose has not. His prose, however, is poetic and beautiful in its simplicity and clarity. “Prose endures” he writes and then leans into what could be best described as the arch narrative of the collection as well as life itself, “I feel the circles grow smaller, and old age is a ceremony of losses.” It seems condescending to suggest any surprise that this book is as good as his earlier writings, as if such a feat is remarkable if not miraculous for such an “old man.” He writes of many such indignities suffered by the old, but not in anger or even pity. Most often it is with wry amusement. He describes a family dinner where a grandchild’s roommate carelessly pulls a chair to sit with her back, “directly in front of me, cutting me off...
by Greg | Dec 17, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
Last night as I eased into my corner of the sofa and assumed a posture that cannot be good for long-term bone health I joined the ranks of Americans throughout our land and channel surfed through my cable options. Soon I landed on the holiday program A Charlie Brown Christmas. Yes it is true the time has long past since little feet shuffled about our house insisting on cartoons. Yes it is true that there were other programs that night directed at viewers in my shared demographic. Yes it is true that I am a 48 year old pastor of a distinguished church in a distinguished city. Be that as it may, the channel surfing ended and I settled into an enjoyable thirty minute traipse of nostalgia. The program was first aired in 1965, six months before I was born, so I was literally raised on this annual Christmas privilege. I have heard many a fine sermon during the Advent season and listened to glorious music for the holidays and witnessed exquisite Christmas trees ornamented and arranged, but nothing is as beautiful as Linus’ reading of the birth of Jesus from Luke chapter two or the tree that Charlie Brown picked out for the pageant. This morning I groggily went through the routines of the early hours including reaching up in the cabinet above the coffee maker for a mug to hold some of the caffeine I would need to take on the day. I am selective about which mug I will use each morning. This time of year we have quite a variety of holiday mugs, many...
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