Today is the eleventh day of Lent. It would need to be metal, this thing that I would be an expert at repairing. And completely mechanical. There would be a power source and then one piece moving another piece until the work was done. If you broke it down to its component parts you’d have screws,…
Today is the 8th day of Lent. Over the last year I’ve become aware of a problem that I have. It’s my problem. It originates within me. It has no connection to any external reality that would indicate blame or responsibility for any person or organization outside of myself. Not only do I acknowledge that…
Today is the 7th day of Lent. How can you comprehend another culture when you are UNCONSCIOUS of your own? How can you understand others when you have NEVER tried to understand yourself? How can you know the HEART of God when you do not know your own heart?
This essay was never published online. It was written for the book (RealLivePreacher.com) and published in 2004. There were 9 essays only that only appeared in the book. The phone call came at night. Doesn’t it seem like they always do? I felt sick. I hung up the phone and turned to my wife. “John…
Today is the fifth day of Lent. The following is an account of a dream I had on Saturday night, March 8th. It was the night before my first sermon in four years. Any comment is welcome as usual, but I’d like to suggest that the best response to a dream is to listen to…
Today is the third day of Lent. In the religious world of my upbringing, Satan was understood to be a real being. If you could get coordinates and had the ability to travel through space and across unknown realities, you could find Satan. Not that anyone would want to try. When I went off to…
Today is the second day of Lent. I sat alone a few rows from the front last night at Saint Francis with ashes on my forehead, still uncertain of what this year’s lenten discipline would be. Then a phrase came to me. “Be mindful.” Mindfulness is something that has been missing from my life. I…
Today is the first day of Lent. An act of kindness given from one person to another has its effect on the giver and the receiver independent of each other. If a kind act is offered and received, it flowers in the life of the one who receives it regardless of the motives of the…
This short autobiography was posted in four parts from December 14-21, 2002, the first month of Real Live Preacher. I’ve never liked it. It was roughly written, and I cringe when I read it. Correction, I cringed when last I read it back in 2004. My editor at Eerdmans agreed that it was rough, but…
Take thou thy compass and describe a circle with center point A. Let this circle be called Circle A. Neither increase nor decrease the angle of the hinge of thy compass. Let thy compass remain as it is. Now take thy compass and place the needle at any point on the circumference of Circle A.…