Every time a holiday, a repeat special event or ceremony comes around I sometimes think it’s cliché to talk about it - AGAIN. It seems expected, overdone, and frankly I wonder if there is anything else new to offer on the subject or any more gold to be mined. And yet here I sit with [...]
Faith is a funny thing. I can recall being seven years old, asking my mother theological questions about our faith, and her telling me with great conviction that some things we weren’t meant to know or understand. Needless to say, that answer was less than satisfying. Eventually she told me there were “man made” rules [...]
On Sunday, February 24, 2017, I had the privilege to speak for a few minutes at the KC Interfaith Vigil for Immigrants and Refugees - in response to presidential orders being signed that were banning refugees and immigrants from entering the United States. As the Chair of the Greater Kansas Interfaith Council, I offered these words. [...]
As an anthropologist and minister, I am always intrigued by animal and human behavior. I think it must be in my DNA because I am unconsciously and eternally fascinated, drawn in and left wondering what is next to unfold as I watch creatures go about their day. I just can’t seem to get enough. [...]
We seem to be deluged with never-ending newspaper and TV coverage about the Syrian/Iraqi refugee crisis and the threat of extremist violence. Each time it shows up in my newsfeed on Facebook, cuts into a TV show I am enjoying, or I hear people in a coffee shop talking about it frantically, I am bombarded [...]
Finally, here are Lessons 4 and 5. If you've read the other two articles which house Lessons 1, 2 and 3, just scroll down to #4. If you haven't read the first two installments of this little series, you may want to read the intro and first lesson. Lessons 2 and 3 can be found here. I'm [...]
This post is the second part of a series of some lessons surrounding my recent near death experience. If you haven't read the first lesson, you may want to pause here and read the intro - I'm guessing it will help you set the context for what you are about to read. Here's the lessons, and [...]
Most of us have heard stories of near-death experiences, also known as NDE. Maybe you’ve listened to someone on Oprah, read it in a book, or witnessed a close friend or relative walk through it. Hell, maybe you’ve had one of your own. My point is that when you read or listen to these stories, [...]
Recently I was gravely ill… I heard my mom use that adjective with someone a few weeks ago when explaining what I had been through. Heavy, burdensome, hard to bear - these are all ways to define the root of the word, and all things I am experiencing. Mostly the “hard to bear” part lately. [...]
I just can’t take it anymore. I am soooo tired of this crap. And even those words fall short of the level of powerlessness alive in me. Millions of us who, like me, watch with horror, confusion, desperation and helplessness every time there is a mass shooting. This one in San Bernardino less than a [...]
