Some weeks I fill multiple journal pages. Others, I sit tapping my pen on the paper, gazing out the window, searching for something to write. Most of the time, that's actually a good thing. The big ideas, the dramatic events, the overwhelming emotions often arrive on the trouble bus. An ordinary week, one without much to report, is frequently a week in which nothing went terribly wrong. And there is a quiet gratitude in that, a thankfulness for ease and simplicity. Honestly, even when big...
12 days ago • 2 min read
The liturgical calendar has shifted. Easter is behind us. The longing of Advent won't beckon us for some months. We've settled into what the church calls Ordinary Time -- not ordinary as in unremarkable, but ordinary as in counted: the 1st Sunday after Easter, the 2nd, the 3rd, etc. The weeks that ask us simply to be present to what God is working among us. I have been thinking about how underrated that is. It is a good season to pay attention to what is actually happening around us. We have...
19 days ago • 2 min read
I'll be honest with you: this has been a hard week for me. I'm not ready to say more than that yet, and I've learned (I'm learning) that "I'm not ready" can be a complete sentence. But I wanted to name it, because I believe authenticity is important, and I don't want a world where we can't say that we struggle. Sometimes the most pastoral thing I can offer is simply the truth that I, too, struggle. The text that has been holding me this week is from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians:...
26 days ago • 3 min read
I knew something was off. Not a thought, exactly, more like a feeling at the back of my neck. Something in me was waving its arms, trying to get my attention. But I couldn't articulate it. I had no evidence, no logical reason to be concerned. So I talked myself out of it, extended trust, and moved forward. I shouldn't have. I suspect you have your own version of this story. A person who set off some quiet alarm in you before they ever gave you a concrete reason to be cautious. A situation...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
I feel like a seminary student again. I've been immersed in the Exodus and wilderness stories preparing for an upcoming series. It amazes me how every time I go back to stories I've read multitudes of times, layers fall away and reveal even more wisdom. I have a strong suspicion that since the stories haven't changed, I have, and that growth has made me ready to receive more. The story that stopped me this week was the scouts. The Israelites were pretty early in their journey from Mt. Sinai,...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Easter was last week. The lilies are gone. The extra chairs have been put away. After all the services, all the expectations, all the energy of Easter morning - this week has been pretty ordinary. Dull, even. Here is the thing about resurrection that we don't talk about enough: it doesn't wait for you to feel it. The tomb was empty on Monday. It was empty on Tuesday. It was empty on that Wednesday when the disciples were probably wondering what exactly they were supposed to do next. The...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
It's Holy Week, the seven-day stretch where we hold the rollercoaster of ancient storytelling. We hold betrayal, despair, loss, trauma, systemic abuse, and hope, resurrection, love, and service all at once. We also hold our own stories within these ancient ones. My knee hurts. A life-long friend is in his last days. I had to break a contract with an internet company (you know the one) and it pushed the boundaries of my faithful demeanor and now I have to take a really inconvenient trip across...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Today is a big day, one I look forward to for months. You are reading this a day or more later, and I really I hope I'm feeling as happy and hopeful as I am now as I write this. Today, the Chicago Cubs take the field for the first time in 2026, and I have been (not so) patiently waiting for this day since last October. There is something about Opening Day that I cannot explain to people who don't feel it. Every team starts at zero. Every hope is still intact. Nobody has been eliminated....
2 months ago • 2 min read
I fell. Hard. I mean that literally, and I need you to understand the full picture here. It was during the World Baseball Classic (because I'm ridiculous about baseball). I ran to the bedroom between innings to change into my comfy pants, a completely reasonable and important errand (don't judge). And while I was at it, I noticed my sock wasn't sitting right. So I raised my leg to straighten it. One moment I was a functional adult managing a minor wardrobe situation, and the next I was...
2 months ago • 2 min read