Well-Said Quotables
"…Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart…"
The Book of Common Prayer
Today is Mardi Gras, more affectionately known as Fat Tuesday, a holiday which I have fond memories celebrating while growing up. The local radio station in my small, Midwestern town held an annual call-in contest on Fat Tuesday in which … more
Driving home from Pittsburgh yesterday afternoon—after one more year of “going up to Jerusalem” for the annual Jubilee and its thesis that “everything matters” –I was listening to “The Best of Bob Dylan” as I made my way from Pennsylvania … more
Common grace for the common good—and cows, milk, a city, and a man whose vocation holds them all together. Because of years living in relation to Pittsburgh—some years as a resident and many years as a visitor –I have been … more
“Getting All A’s and Still Flunking Life.” A week ago I gave a lecture to a large gathering of town-and-gown on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, NY. A weekend given to the “between two worlds” dynamic that John Stott … more
“It’s just not right.” All day long in all sorts of different ways we respond to the world with words that try to make sense of what we see and hear– and sometimes we protest, sometimes we lament, sometimes we … more
There are threads that run through our lives. Yesterday I was given a tour of the Cornell University campus, and we stopped at the Johnson Art Museum, designed by I.M. Pei. As we walked through, I saw a sculpture, the … more
This past week we hosted a group of DMin students who are studying “Faith, Vocation & Culture”—a surprisingly good name for focused learning and life –talking, thinking, eating, and praying from Monday through Friday. It is the long fruit of … more
Perhaps now that we are nearing mid-month New Year’s Resolutions are already old news – I for one can attest that my initial, steely resolve to give up refined sugar has long lapsed – yet this reflection on a better … more
Work matters. It is not only the name of a good book, but more importantly the way the world really is. Vocation is integral, not incidental, to the missio Dei. And as one of my good friends says to me, … more
The Holidays are over, the old year has gone, and now we look forward to another year of work and labor under the sun. For some, this marks another year of drudgery, for others, a year of exciting opportunity. But … more