You’ve probably heard the old story about the young woman who cuts the end off her ham before she cooks it.  Her daughter asks why she does that and she says because that is the way her mother did it.  The daughter goes to Grandma and asks why she cut the end off the ham before cooking and she sai ...

Fred Buechner, a great author and theologian, suggests that during Lent we ask ourselves these questions:

• When you look in the mirror what do you see you most like...what do you most deplore?

Yesterday at the 9:00 service our great Drama Team did an interpretation of the Scriptures for the day.  They always make me think about the story in a new way.

One of the characters (or maybe it was God) said I need to think about Jesus when I have to decide between a new hybrid car and a gas guzzling SUV.  It reminded me of a campaign a few years back called "What would Jesus Drive?"

Well, I confess, I have loved my Sebring convertible for almost seven years.  It is not very safe, it is bad for my skin and my hair.  It is not very energy efficient.  But there is nothing like climbing in after a long, hard day, putting the top down and speeding off with the wind in your hair and the sun in your face.  And yes, I do mean speeding becuase it makes me go faster than I know I should.

Now it is gone. Snif, snif.  My favorite car h ...

They say that a good story will do three things.  It will capture the attention of the listener.  It will reveal something about the teller.  It will connect the listener to the teller.

Stories are amazing things.  I am always surprised how my own personal story will connect to the larger story of the world or of faith.  That is why the Bible is full of stories, so we can see ourselves and our stories in it and hear God's word to us.

I finally saw Pan's Labrynth at the movies.  The girl is caught up in fairy tales.  She creates a fairy tale to make some sense of the senselessness in her life.  Her fairy tale turns pain into promise and give meaning to suffering.  Death becomes the start of a new life in her story.

So many movies and books contain the themes of our stories of faith.  Our faith stories are consi ...

It has been said

First we form habits, then they form us.

This seems to be my week for moving poetry.  Or maybe it is just my heart is more open and receptive.  What do you think of this one?

Mary Oliver is a wonderful contemporary poet.  She has a recently published collection called Thirst.  She deals poetically with the death of her partner of 40+ years.  I’ve had the new book sitting on my desk, buried under more important things than poetry.  This morning I was still angry about Roger’s death.  I threw stuff off my desk to clear the clutter and happened across the book.

Each year on Ash Wednesday we repeat the words - from dust you came and to dust you shall return.  We remember that we are mortal and all will eventually die.  This year this ritual takes on deeper meaning for me.

Today a dear friend of mine is being cremated.  ...

Yesterday the IPS schools closed, not because of weather, but because too many bus drivers called in sick.  They wanted the day off to celebrate the Colt’s victory in the Super Bowl.

Today is the first Tuesday of the month which means it is Team Night.  It is snowing and I am hoping deep down that it snows enough for us to cancel ...

When I went home from church yesterday I was still thinking about Ruth's sermon on love.  One line really caught me.  She said (more or less) In the end what really matters is who and how you love.

I could not have chosen a better day to go see the movie, Venus.  Peter O'Toole plays an aging actor who becomes friends with a young woman who is staying with her great-uncle.  This is truly a movie about who you love and how you love and what difference it makes in the end.  I laughed and cried through the entire movie and can't stop thinking about it.  What an amazing love story in the agape sense of the word.

I really recommend reading Ruth's sermon before you go.  Perfect fit!

If you have issues with foul language you had better skip this one.  Sorry.