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...
by Greg | Dec 16, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
In part as a personal discipline as well as a need to better organize my reflections on books I have read, I will be sharing periodic book reviews. Books connect us, frustrate us, compel us and sometimes disgust us. Thank goodness for books because they give us something to talk about and give us something to think about. Below is a book I just finished and now wish to share a little bit with you. If you have read it, please tell me what you think. The End of Your Life Book Club By Will Schwalbe A good book enriches the self. A good book enriches our friendships when we share them. I want to share with you a good book – The End of Your Life Book Club. Yes, it what you think, but do not let the title mislead you that this book is a sad, morbid tale. It is filled with hope, joy, and love between a son and his mother and we are given the opportunity to share with them in their journey. I first came across this book listed in the New York Times as a bestseller. That does not necessarily make a book a good book, yet it never fails to get my attention. Nevertheless I passed over this book many times in bookstores as well as its steady presence on “the list.” A church member – recently widowed and a critical reader whose opinion I respect – passed along a copy for me to read. Fearing I would be “tested” on its contents I set to work on reading the...
by Greg | Dec 3, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
Are you ready for Christmas? I have fond recollections from childhood of my grandmother readying for Christmas by weeks and weeks of baking, boiling and kneading her way to December 25th. The kitchen and spare bedroom of her simple house would be stacked high with Tupperware containers filled with high calorie treats. Each year we could expect lady fingers, date nut balls, divinity, and my favorite – peanut butter fudge. Just before Christmas day she would buy a few coconuts (we never could grow any in Putnam County) and grate them for a homemade coconut cake. One year my brothers and I decided to help grate the coconuts but failed to properly wash up before plunging into the task at hand. Instead of a pearly white color, the cake looked more like a mud hut on the side of the creek. Needless to say the cake never made it to the table. Another year my grandmother was inspired to try something new. She had read a recipe in a magazine for rum balls. Like any good southern lady of her era, my grandmother was a staunch tee-totaler, but she had heard you can cook the alcohol out. She dispatched my father to go in the dark of night, so no one would see, and purchase a bottle of rum to make rum balls. Like most grandmothers, she did not always work with measurements so she added rum to the mixture according to what she thought looked right. Take my word for it – minors had no business eating those rum balls! When we took the lid off of...
by Greg | Nov 25, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
Peace. What an elusive word. In this season of giving thanks it can be difficult to be grateful when you are not experiencing peace. Peace. It is sometimes difficult to imagine it. Just look to Ferguson, MO. Not much peace there. Not with the Brown family who had to bury their child. I cannot imagine their grief. Not with Officer Williams and his family. I cannot imagine their fear. Not with the residents in the national spotlight. I cannot imagine their division. Peace. It can be hard to come by. Ask the child frightened by gunfire in Gaza. Look at the housewife weary with abuse. Consider the alcoholic just trying to hang on. Peace. When Jesus was born the angels sang about peace (Luke 2:9). When Jesus grew up he preached about peace, saying “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God,” (Matthew 5:9). When he was resurrected he appeared to the disciples and said, “Peace be with you,” (John 20:19). Peace. It is a lovely word and it is a lovely thought and deep within us all is the longing for peace; to be whole; to be complete. Just imagine that things could be different; that you and I do not have to go on living divided against others or divided against ourselves. Just imagine that wherever you are in the tension between peace and conflict God is present. The Great Story in scripture is the reminder that no matter how un-peaceful things may be in this world or in your life, it does not negate the...
by Greg | Nov 19, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
Like clockwork I can look at those Maples just to the side of the church, the ones that are near the welcome center, and know that Thanksgiving is near. These trees just blaze, like flares signaling that the time of giving thanks is near. Are you good at giving thanks? I am not talking about saying thank you to the server who brings your food or the teller that cash’s your check – although it is important to say thank you. Saying thank you is simply a matter of good manners. Giving thanks, however, is something more. Giving thanks is a way of life that is lived gratefully. One person shared the following line with me: what if you woke up today and you only had those things you thanked God for yesterday? I rarely pause and say “Thank you God for good health.” I know many people who are in poor health and say regretfully they did not realize how precious good health was until they no longer have it. While I do thank God for my family, I doubt I share that gratitude often enough with God. Maybe I do not say thanks that often because over time I have come to expect these things in my life: a hot cup of coffee in the morning; energy to get out of bed; my family safe and sound; friends I can call on; a roof over my head and a pantry full of food; a loving church just waiting on me. I suspect that deep down I think that I deserve all of this and therefore...
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