“You can’t glue wings on a caterpillar and make it fly like a butterfly. It must change from within.” — COPIED from somewhere and sitting in one my pocket notebooks until now. “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You buff the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun,…

LET’S REVIEW, as in from about 3 months ago: Happy Holidays…Half Hollowed Daze? Day. Night. Inhale. Exhale. Get busy. Stay busy. Get busier. Even busier. ENOUGH! Brace yourself for this one — Engage and withdraw.  In addition to your activism, take time for “inactivism.” Withdraw into whatever allows you to breathe and recalibrate: silence, solitude,…

This came my way from Jim Trainer —- Covenant SchoolThurston High SchoolColumbine High SchoolHeritage High SchoolDeming Middle SchoolFort Gibson Middle SchoolBuell Elementary SchoolLake Worth Middle SchoolUniversity of ArkansasJunipero Serra High SchoolSantana High SchoolBishop Neumann High SchoolPacific Lutheran UniversityGranite Hills High SchoolLew Wallace High SchoolMartin Luther King, Jr High SchoolAppalachian School of LawWashington High SchoolConception AbbeyBenjamin…

“Look forward with hope,” a scribble in an old pocket notebook says, “not backward with regret.” My current one’s first page, in giant Sharpie: “You have today.” Long before you and I came along, an old friend wrote, I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and…

“Look forward with hope,” a scribble in an old pocket notebook says, “not backward with regret.” My current one’s first page, in giant Sharpie: “You have today.” Long before you and I came along, an old friend wrote, I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and…

“Look forward with hope,” a scribble in an old pocket notebook says, “not backward with regret.” My current one’s first page, in giant Sharpie: “You have today.” Long before you and I came along, an old friend wrote, I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and…

9. Blame your parents. Or the former pastor. Or previous staff. Or the denominational leadership. Or the government. But never challenge yourself or your congregation to take responsibility for the ways things are and for making things better. 

“Look forward with hope,” a scribble in an old pocket notebook says, “not backward with regret.” Hmmm. My current one screams three words in giant letters that fill the first page —- YOU HAVE TODAY —- Double Hmmmmmm.

“Look forward with hope,” a scribble in an old pocket notebook says, “not backward with regret.”

“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” — Abraham Lincoln, as frequently quoted to me by my dad. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” — St. Paul, as he wrote in Romans 12:2. Hmmmm….