I know that the anniversary of September 11, 2001, isn’t until tomorrow, but I was thinking about how different our lives were on September 10, 2001. No one was even pondering such a horrific event, yet when you think about it, there have been so many historic events that dramatically shifted our way of thinking.
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 9, 2025This week is suicide prevention week, and if you have not been directly impacted by suicide, you are probably just one person removed from that extraordinarly painful and deeply troubling experience. As so often happens, both language and perception have changed over the years. Simple things like no longer saying that someone ‘committed suicide’ are important. When we use the word ‘committed,’ it implies intention
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 8, 2025Prayer for the Week: When the negative voices become negative energy that infuses my mind and begins to seep into my bones, I pray for your Spirit to provide clarity of purpose. Clear some of the gloom that hinders my capacity to both see and celebrate all that is good and joyous. Whether pessimism stems from the everyday curmudgeon or someone whose intentions are much
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 7, 2025Today in worship, we will be reflecting on the theme: Painting by sacred numbers. I’m sure most of you have done a paint by numbers, even if it has been many years since you tried to match the little container of paint with the number on the canvas. And though the image and language of the sermon will focus on the metaphor of painting, there
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 6, 2025 I was reflecting on some words offered in an email blast almost a year ago from Sojourners Magazine. It referenced Proverbs 18:15, “An intelligent mind acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge,” but then the email blast went on to quote someone I did not think I knew. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian novelist whose writing has received great acclaim, but
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 5, 2025Years ago, I remember hearing Archbishop Desmond Tutu preach at the General Assembly of our denomination. His sermon was based on Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God…” Actually, that is where he stopped. He did not move on to the next few words that speak of God creating, but instead, stuck with this notion that God existed before there was existence. It is sort of
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 4, 2025I don’t know why, but I have had a hard time writing this Etching. I have experienced moments of inspiration, started to type, only to shake my head and say to myself, “Well, that’s nonsense.” Now I’m pretty sure I have written a few Etchings over the years that were actually published, and upon reading them, you thought to yourself, “Well, that’s nonsense.” If it’s
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 3, 2025Twenty-one years ago on this day, Donna and I arrived in Guatemala City to complete the adoption process and bring our eleven-month-old child home. What was to be a three-month process turned into a nearly yearlong and very painful journey. We traveled three months earlier to visit the child that had been assigned to us, yet while we were there on our visit, we learned
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 2, 2025On many occasions, I have been told that I might be overly sensitive or my reaction a bit over the top. I am willing to hear that critique, and the following might fall into one of those categories. With that said, I was a bit troubled by a press release the day after the shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A religious organization invited people to pray
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 1, 2025There are times when a sermon is still this loose and nebulous idea, and all the pieces in my mind seem to fit together in what I am certain will be a 16-18 minute message. And then it begins to take shape, and the idea becomes a sermon, and what I thought would be the final product is in fact about 40 minutes long. In