Category: Uncategorized

“As in Travail”

The congregation was dumbstruck that Sunday morning as Jai and I stood before the altar during the time of announcements to announce that we were expecting.  Yes, Abraham and Sarah, in our old age, expecting our first. I still remember one of the congregation… Continue Reading ““As in Travail””

We’re Coming to America

Some will remember that “Hot August Night” when Neil Diamond stepped out onto the stage.  The orchestra began with a winsome prelude that slowly crescendoed to a pulsing beat.  Then began the first strains of that ballad that so aptly celebrates the promise of… Continue Reading “We’re Coming to America”

If This Stuff was Easy…

My first parish assignment at a little town in the upper Mojave Dessert.  There I met a number of wonderful, faithful Christians.  Yes, the town was little.  My wife would have said infinitesimal.  When we first arrived to be interviewed, in all of about… Continue Reading “If This Stuff was Easy…”

Inducted

Over fifty years ago I distinctly remember being lined up with a bunch of other guys in a dingy, depressing room, downtown L.A., and raising my right hand and swearing to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.  We then stepped across… Continue Reading “Inducted”

Fired Up. Ready to Go.

Four bishops gathered over the five days of the Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in Southern California.  From various local denominations, Episcopal, Roman Catholic and African Methodist Episcopal churches, they were invited to speak at the United Methodist Bishop Charles Golden’s, maiden… Continue Reading “Fired Up. Ready to Go.”

The Spirit of Truth

Well, You Didn’t Get it Here! George Regas is fond of telling the story of a man who, one Sunday, wanders into a large, cavernous Episcopal sanctuary.  Think of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.  You’ve seen it.  It is where many state funerals… Continue Reading “The Spirit of Truth”

National Neutrino Week

Let’s hear it for neutrinos.  No, they are not some new dietary supplement or weight loss pill.  They’re all around you – billions of them, moving through the walls of your house and your body every second – “like moonlight through a screen door.”[1] … Continue Reading “National Neutrino Week”

On the Road Again

Life is an incredible road trip.  Look through the milestones of your life.  Who would have imagined some of them.  In retrospect, it’s been quite a journey filled to the brim with chance, sadness, friends, surprises and glory.  As the protagonist reminisces in the… Continue Reading “On the Road Again”

Unless I See…

We are living in most interesting, and terrifying, times.  Isn’t that the ancient curse — May you live in interesting times? Recently, I placed on my Facebook page a post from my friend Ravi: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be… Continue Reading “Unless I See…”

on the first day of the week

“When leaving his surgery on the morning of April 16, Dr. Bernard Rieux felt something soft under his foot.  It was a dead rat lying in the middle of the landing. On the spur of the moment he kicked it to one side, and… Continue Reading “on the first day of the week”