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Being Prepared

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Once upon a time, a young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications, the young man said: "I can sleep when the wind blows." This response puzzled the farmer, but he liked the young man, so he hired him anyway. A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the middle of the night by a violent storm.

Resolutions and Epiphany

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January 2012

Dear Friends,

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t keep any of my resolutions from last year. Well, maybe for the first few weeks. And there were sweeps of time over the summer, a moment or two in the fall when it looked like I might make a recovery. But overall … not so much. And silly as it sounds considering my track record, I’ll make still more resolutions this year! They may fall as flat as last year’s, but every day is a new day, a new chance to live into new possibilities.

Extravagant Generosity

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Bishop Robert Schnase, writing in his book Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, believes that the practice of generosity describes a Christian’s unselfish willingness to give extravagantly in order to make a positive difference for God’s purpose in the world.

What if church led more people to water?

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They tell me that Santa Rosa does, indeed, have hot weather in the summer. They tell me these last two summers have been statistically deviant because of their cooler, wetter conditions. “They” say all of these things, while they sweat and seek air conditioning in 80°weather. I believe them, but I can’t help but smile a little on the inside.

What if church were a place where faith and politics could meet?

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Do you know this old story? “An elderly gentleman was sitting on a park bench, basking in the sun, when another elderly fellow sat down. They looked at each other for a moment, but did not speak. Both men sat there, staring straight ahead. After a while, one of them heaved a big, heartfelt sigh. The other jumped up immediately and said, ‘If you're going to talk politics, I'm leaving.’"   (Found in Bits & Pieces, June 24, 1993, p. 7)

What if church could lighten your load?

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Jesus’s first sermon was a stunner.  He stood up in the middle of his hometown synagogue, surrounded by his Hebrew school teachers and siblings, friends of his parents and the children he played with in the market, and he read the scripture of the day from Isaiah: