A short thought or poem for the weekend, friends ... Happiness A bee settled on a rose petal. It sipped, and off it flew. All in all, happiness, too, is something little. Trilussa (aka Carlo Alberto Salustri 1871-1950)

There are certain writers I read again and again. Their wisdom never grows old, it simply shifts in impact as I flow through the phases of my own life. One of the most revisited is the late Henri Nouwen, arguably one of the greatest spiritual writers of my lifetime. I re-read his beautiful book "Life […]

I have noticed in my decades as a pastor that more people than not have a troubled relationship with God. Rather than experiencing God as love and loving, we experience God as judgmental and judging. This dramatically impacts how we live, whether we realize it or not. A couple quotes got me thinking about this. […]

Chuck and I drove out to our new treehouse in the woods last night. We deliberately didn't listen to news on the drive. No music, either. Just casual catching up, the easy conversation of almost 40 years of the deepest kind of friendship. It was a beautiful summer evening in Iowa. Not too hot, mostly […]

I have a birthday next week. I like birthdays; they mean I have been given the unearned gift of another year on this beautiful, troubled planet full of beautiful, troubled people, including myself. I am always thoughtful as the day approaches and this year I thought I might write myself a little blessing. You are […]

In my decades as a pastor, the complaint I heard most from all kinds of folks went something like this, "I want to have a stronger spiritual life, but my everyday life gets in the way." Sound familiar? There is an inherent fallacy in this statement that leaves us all with no perceivable solution. There […]