For many of us, the idea of routines and rituals gets a bad rap. We often equate them with vain repetitions that culminate in boredom and leave us unmoved and uninspired. But there are plenty of rituals and routines that allow for centering, continuity, and...
In 2013, after eleven years serving as a college professor who preached occasionally, I took on the dual role of professor and pastor. Previously, when I served as a guest teacher for Sunday School and Bible Study, I had always done so from a standing...
“Yeah, there’s no one else my age at church,” shrugs the 28-year-old with resignation. Justin grew up at Saint Elizabeth’s, Honolulu, back when his brother led the lively youth group. He’s still here. But most — well, maybe all — of the kids he knew a...
Memes are rituals drained of transcendence. — Ted Gioia, The Honest Broker As religion recedes, politics takes its place. — Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal joy unspeakable is practicing freedom while chains still chafe, singing deliverance while Jim Crow stalks — Barbara A. Holmes, Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church These three...
Tripp Fuller published an insightful essay earlier this year about the pace of modern life, and it includes a helpful illustration that I frequently share with others. Drawing on Hartmut Rosa’s argument that modernity is fundamentally a mode of operation, a way of organizing society...
Every day, ministry leaders make countless choices. Some are obvious, like how to spend the next hour, or which meeting to attend, what to preach, or where to invest limited resources. Others are quieter but no less significant, such as choosing to listen before speaking, to...
Each and every day, pastors make myriad choices. We choose where we spend our time. We choose who to pay attention to in pastoral care, and who to avoid. We choose what to focus on in our preaching and teaching, and what not to talk...
My husband and I recently celebrated 30 years of marriage, and we marked this milestone with a trip to the Pacific Northwest. Part of our trip was spent exploring Olympic National Park. It’s one thing to see pictures; it’s quite another to be there in...
Robert Frost’s famous poem The Road Not Taken is often mistitled, The Road Less Traveled - such is the power of its final claim, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” For many,...