Once when I was in high school my mom walked up to me and asked if I knew a kid named Jeff Detweiler. I knew Jeff and didn’t particularly care for him so I said, “Yes, I know Jeff Detweiler, I think he’s a real Jerk”. At which point
When I was in seminary I served as an intern in a church where one of my responsibilities was to work with the high school youth group. A few months after I began, I was pulled into a conflict between two parents and their daughter. They asked me to
The last year of my dad’s life he called to congratulate me on something good that had happened for me. I wasn’t at my desk so he left a voicemail. Because he was pretty sick I could barely hear him, but I heard just enough to know that he
Sometimes when I walked into class my students would ask me a question like: “can we watch a movie today?” or “can we have class outside?” Or they’d ask a question to get me off track; anything to distract me from the lesson I had planned. And yet, even
When I was in 8th grade my dad came home one evening, came up to my room, sat on the edge of my bed and told me we were going to move. I was devastated. I cried, bargained and threw out a heavy dose of guilt, all designed to get
Every May at the end of the school year, my school gathers for a closing chapel service at the end of which we sing a rousing rendition of Rise and Shine. Some have commented that it’s their favorite tradition. In singing the great story of Noah’s Ark we all
I recently joined a bowling league. I haven’t bowled in years, but a couple of friends and I decided to lace up the bowling shoes and hit the lanes. Here are a couple of lessons I have learned after our first week of competition. One: There is a whole
One of the Great Hebrew words in scripture comes in the first two verses of the Bible and it is this “Tohu Va bohu”. It’s a little used word that is hard to explain so I’ll give a few examples to see if I can help you get a picture
I was in a discussion recently with a group of friends. Things got pretty heated between some in the group. I sat quietly, listening, observing, not really wanting to dip my toe into the choppy waters of this conversation given the strong opinions represented. I was content to sit
