Two Exciting New Things!

This is going to read a bit materialistic (especially after my last post!) but I made two purchases today that I am very excited about, more because of their symbolism than anything else!

1. A new guitar! I never thought I would buy an Ibanez but this little number is a jewel! it's a classical guitar with pickups and is designed to be "plugged-in." Since nearly everything I do these days, from Taize, Iona, and all points in-between uses classical guitar I am thrilled to have a new partner in the creative process. I keep looking for excuses to play it! :) We are still getting to know one another but I have a feeling that we will be doing lots of good work together!
I've got two cantoring gigs coming up this month and next that will make excellent use of this instrument and its flexibility! I haven't bought a new guitar since my Marcus Miller bass seven years ago! Wow, it's been a while!!!!

2. A new stole! Last week at Lake Junaluska I met Phillip Cox Johnson, who is a renowned liturgical artist. He created a piece that I have and use from time to time as a covering cloth for communion. He is really an incredibly gifted artist: you can check out his work at

www.gospelcolors.com

He is creating a white deacon's stole for me that I will wear when I cantor the opening worship service for the South Central Jurisdictional Conference this month in Dallas and I will also wear it at funerals for clergy.

Fun stuff!

I've got to write my July church newsletter article now but I will post soon about my time on the road in North Carolina! Also, if you have a moment, I would covet your prayers as I am preaching this week and need some organizational help!

God bless you!

A momentary break

Whew...life moves quickly, doesn't it? I mean that, in every way, in every manner, life seems to move quickly. Unless you are suffering, I suppose.

I put Ellie to bed about an hour ago, took out the trash, played through some hymns for a funeral I'm cantoring on Wednesday, talked to my boss and I just sat down to my computer with a cup of coffee and thought, perhaps I should take a quick "blog break" before finishing up several administrative tasks before calling it a night. And really, who doesn't want to work on administrative tasks at 10:00 at night!

So, I've been thinking about death a lot lately. Well, not really death, perhaps, as much as life and it's relative shortness. At my home church this past Sunday a family of five was killed as they were leaving church in a car accident. I knew the parents: they were some of my youth counselors growing up and I worked on staff with Christy when I served at Custer Road UMC in seminary. The community, as you can imagine, is devastated.

Life is short.

I think about a colleague of mine I look up to in ministry who is not "old" in any sense of the term and who is suffering through incredible cancer. I think of two of my choir members who are fighting cancer.

I watched the movie "Bucket-list" last night and am in the middle, coincidentally, of reading N.T. Wright's newest book "Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church."

This has gotten me to thinking lately really not about death at all, but about life. And about beauty. And about justice. And about fellowship. And about light.

And about how it ALL really matters.

It all really matters.

Every moment, matters. Every breath is a gift.

And so, if we haven't talked in a while, I really want to sit down with you over a cup of coffee (or the beverage of your choice) and just talk. How are you? What's going on in your life? What is giving you energy right now? Where are you finding rest? How are your relationships?

Let's not wait, o.k.?

I am still amongst the living!

Hello friends! (If any of you are still checking this blog!!!)
Sorry it's been so long since the last post! I am teaching (the older elementary children's choir) at Music and Liturgical Arts Week at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, this week. It's been a great week but I have been feeling bad that I haven't been able to blog in a while! Sadly, I don't have much time to post today as I need to leave in just a minute to get ready for my last rehearsal with my kids! (All 60 of them!!!!) We are singing some cool repertoire so it should be fun! Our concert is this afternoon at 2:00 EST, so prayers for clarity and focus would be appreciated!
Given my second to last post, I am eager to report on how this transition is going but that will have to wait for another day! If I get time in the airports I will post more soon!
Vaya con dios!
Joe

A good night sleep!

I would like to take a quick moment to thank the pharmaceutical industry for a night of wonderful, deep sleep! Thank you, NyQuil, not only for helping to ease my cold-like symptoms but also for giving me the deepest nights sleep I've had in some time!
It's amazing how eight hours can change one's perspective!
Have a blessed day!

Oh sweet, sweet blog, how I have missed you!

Tis' the season for long hours at work! Oddly enough, I thought this summer would be a little easier on me because I am not leading a choir tour but it has turned out to be just as much work, though the work is of a more sustained nature.

It is raining right now and the thunder is just beautiful to hear! I've got some good espresso, the church is quiet (the calm before the storm, we have only two days of vbs left!!!) and the music is just moody enough! This fortunate confluence of events must mean that it's time for a little bit of reflection before the children come!

All in all, all is well.

I have learned much about myself these last few weeks, which is probably why I haven't spent much time with the blog!

I've been rolling into work by 7:30 a.m. and not wrapping up work until midnight or so for nearly every day the last two weeks and the work-load was beginning to wear me down a bit and I have been feeling fairly overwhelmed lately. I had to take a general health survey this week for the church and scored a lot worse in the stress area that I thought I would. I'm afraid "dark Joe" had been emerging more and more lately! :)

Last night, however, I had something of an epiphany! I received an email from a worship designer that I will be doing some cantoring for this summer at a major event. Basically, the content of the email left most of the song leadership at this event in my court. I had previously (after several rounds of seeking clarification!) came to the conclusion that my work was going to be about a 1/4 of what I will now be doing next month. It's all good because I am thrilled, honored, and humbled to participate in the worship leadership at this event but, yikes, that's a lot more work at a time when my local church is asking a lot more from me, I'm preparing to serve as a clinician at a national event and leave on Saturday, I will be leading a revival in August, I have large planning responsibilities for a 2009 national convocation and a big piece of that work has to be done by August, and we are expecting the arrival of Samuel Joseph (YEAH!!!!) in late July/early August.

Wow, I thought, this is beginning to feel like more than I can reasonably handle, the walls are closing in!

After recieving the email, I found myself resorting to my usual strategy: if only, I thought, I can head back to church after choir tonight, pull an all-nighter I can get the majority of this stuff done! You know, the old, "if I just work a little harder I can get it all done..." Well, when I got to the church after the choir party, I decided that I've had about enough of this way of working and of being with my family.

So, that's a long set-up to say that here was my double-epiphany:

1. I am no longer in my first semester of grad school, in fact I've had my masters degree since 2003 and have been in the field full-time for half a decade, so the time for the all-nighter as an effective strategy for accomplishing long-term projects has passed. (In a related note, so has my ability to eat large steak burritos with the "fire" sauce. The passing of my digestive system from 20 year old to 30 year old has been marked by several such unfortunate discoveries!) It's time to grow up a bit and a) learn to say no but to only the things that are really interesting and/or important and b) relax, prepare as best I can, and rely on the combination of training, preparation, experience, and intuition. The discipline in this will be not feeling guilty for not working myself to exhaustion.

Which leads to the second, equally important epiphany. (Which also requires some set-up.) When I was in the ninth grade I had a major spiritual crisis (might have had something to do with hormones) that resulted in several intimate experiences with God. One of which was a request that I made of God as the long night was drawing to a close was this: God, please do not deny me the experiences of life in their fullest measure: I want to taste the darkness when it comes and I want to taste all of the good and to see the light when it comes. So far, God has been protectively generous in honoring my request! (Some days it feels like a pretty naive request but on balance I wouldn't withdraw it!)

Last night I realized that I am passing through a stage in my professional and personal life. While I will always be a student I am beginning to contribute to my field. My contributions might be fairly small and of minimal importance but they are contributions none the less. And so, as I am allowing myself to transition between student to contributor, I am learning that I no longer want to allow myself the indulgence of the typical all-nighter. These frequent late-night sessions at the church are keeping me from watching my daughter grow up (not to mention an absence of my role as a parent), spending time with Sarah, and, I fear, lead to the Tim Russert demise (God rest his glorious soul).

This is a long way of saying that, like Tiger Woods, I'm always going to be refining my swing, if you will, but when it comes time to go out and play, I am going to allow myself to trust my swing completely and just get out there, embrace it, do it, and accept the results as they come!

I believe that I can make this transition because it is rooted in prayer and in a deepening realization that, as Julian of Norwich says, God is the ground of our prayers. I believe that this passage is of God, if you will, and I intend to honor it!

Well, the children are pouring in and the time for more ministry has come!

God bless you, have a great day!

A Mystical Thought for the Day...

I just finished my ritual internet surfing this morning and read on cnn.com about the flooding in Iowa...my prayers are with them. Feels like 1993 all over again, eh? I remember that year very well because I had to make a connection in St. Louis and the water from the rivers was lapping up on the edge of the runway.

Hmm....

Change in topic (that's me using the clutch to change gears in the conversation)

I have always been attracted to Christian Mysticism. (Much like a certain Methodist I have read, that Methodist being John Wesley.) This month I have been reading bits and pieces of the writings of Julian of Norwich, the 14-15 century English anchoress, an anchoress was a women who lived as a hermit in a cell attached to a church. Not much is known about Julian (if that is even her real name) other than her primary work, "The Showings." When Julian was 30 (in May, 1373) she received a series of visions from God. (Perhaps as a recently turned thirty-year-old who turned thirty in the month of May the numbers were just too strong to overcome!) Julian spent much of the rest of her life pondering these visions.

The visions are pretty amazing! I'd write more but Ellie is awake!

Here's a thought to ponder in the heart today from Julian:
"Nothing less than God can satisfy us."
--Julian of Norwich

2008 North Texas Annual Conference

Hello!

I have just gotten back from the 2008 North Texas Annual Conference. This year's conference was good and uneventful, which is not the worst thing in the world! We had several productive moments, legislatively speaking. The conference endorsed (with minor amendments) a statement from MARCHA regarding discrimination against Latin American and Hispanic Americans as well as another piece regarding the current current environment created by our country's immigration woes.

One of the best parts of conference for me is catching up with my colleagues. In nearly every annual conference, somewhere near the beginning of the conference they will sing Charles Wesley's hymn "And Are We Yet Alive."

Here are two stanza's from Wesley's hymn:

And are we yet alive, and see each other's face?
Glory and thanks to Jesus give for his almighty grace!

Preserved by power divine to full salvation here,
again in Jesus' praise we join, and in his sight appear.

What troubles have we seen, what mighty conflicts past,
fightings without, and fears within, since we assembled last.

It was always something of a wonder in the early days of the American Methodist Church when conference came to see who, in fact, was still alive. The ministry was then (and in different ways still is) very dangerous. The average life expectancy of a Methodist Circuit Rider was three years in the early days of the American Methodists. If they didn't get killed on the circuit by natural causes they would often die of "unnatural causes." This year was the third year that I knew several of deceased pastors and spouses. Thankfully, most of them died of old age. Unfortunately, that trend will only go up as the average age of Methodist clergy is 52 years of old. As a 30 year old, I'm afraid my odds of witnessing many of them passing is pretty high.

We need more young clergy in the worst way.

On that front, our conference has placed The Rev. Dr. Andy Stoker in charge of recruitment, which is a glorious and blessed choice! Dr. Stoker is a man of great faith, incredible intellect and great passion for doing the work of God. Plus, he's young! The more candidates for ordained ministry he can come into contact with the better!

The Character of God--a Sermon by Dr. Marcus Borg

I recently came across this sermon by Marcus Borg and, after reading it, I continue to be impressed by his clarity of thought and his ability to communicate effectively in non-academic settings. I read a TON of Borg to help me prepare for my ordination interviews and I continue to find him inspiring, challenging, and, at times comforting. We are blessed to have his voice in the world!

Enjoy!

Lenten Noonday Preaching Series
Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
March 24, 2000

The Character of God

Dr. Marcus Borg

Hundere Professor of Religion and Culture

Oregon State University

Corvallis, Oregon

I invite you to join me in a moment of centering prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the light of the world. Fill our minds with your peace and our hearts with your love. In your name, oh Christ, our body and our blood, our life and our nourishment. Amen.

I have been told that my sermons often sound like lectures, but I’ve also been told that my lectures often sound like sermons, so it kind of evens out. Today is one of those days when my sermon may very well sound like a lecture. I want to talk about God today. I trust that it’s okay to preach about God. More specifically, I want to talk about the character of God, about how we see the character of God, and the effects of this on the Christian life. That is actually the title of my sermon, for those of you who like sermons to have titles: "The Character of God." Or to turn it into a question, "What is the Character of Your God?"
As a prologue, I want to explain a bit more about what I mean when I speak about the character of God. The character of God has to do with the very nature of God. It is deeper than the Will of God, for will flows out of character. And so my question is, What is God’s character? What does God care about? What is God’s passion? Our sense of God’s character, our perception of what God is like, is carried or conveyed by our images of God or metaphors for God. I typically distinguish between concepts of God, which I see as more abstract, and images of God—images or metaphors are more concrete, more visual. Indeed, I sometimes think of metaphors as linguistic art or verbal art. Some of the biblical metaphors for God or images for God include the following: God is like a king, like a judge, like a shepherd, like a father, less commonly, like a mother. God is like a lover, like a potter, like a warrior, and so forth.

These images for God matter, to repeat my foundational claim. They matter because they shape how we see the character of God. I turn now to the main body of my sermon. I want to talk about two primary images or pictures or metaphors for God’s character that have dominated the Jewish and Christian traditions throughout their long history, reaching back into biblical times. They are two very different models for the character of God. A model, as Sallie McFague from Vanderbilt Divinity School puts it, is a metaphor with "staying power." To which I would add, a model is a way of constellating or gestalting metaphors. That is, the biblical metaphors for God gravitate toward one or the other of these two models or primary images for God. Both of these have been present throughout Christian history. Both are alive in the contemporary church. And they are so different from each other that they virtually produce two different religions both using the same language.

The first of these ways of imaging God’s character sees God as the lawgiver and judge who also loves us. This is the one that I grew up with and the one I suspect that many of you grew up with. It is probably also the most common or visible image of God within the Christian church today. As lawgiver, God had given us the Ten Commandments and other laws about how to live. God had told us what is expected of us.

As judge, God was also the enforcer of the law; there would be a judgment someday. (I took all of this very much for granted when I was growing up in the church.) And God also loved us. Because we weren’t very good at being good, we weren’t very good at keeping God’s laws, God provided an alternative means of satisfying God’s law—of becoming right with God. In Old Testament times this was accomplished through temple sacrifice as a way of atoning for our disobedience. In New Testament times, God sent Jesus to be the sacrifice to die for our sins, thus making our forgiveness possible.

God did love us, but it was a conditional love. Namely, God would accept us if – and here again you can fill in the blank: if we were good enough, if our repentance was earnest enough, if we believed in Jesus. And so, even though God loved us, the system of requirements remained. God as lawgiver and judge in a way triumphs over the love of God. The dynamic of sin, guilt, and forgiveness, and doing or believing what we needed to do, were the central dynamic of the Christian life.
It is striking to me how pervasive this dynamic of sin, guilt, and forgiveness is in even liberal Christian settings. A couple summers ago, I was at a week-long event in a classically liberal Christian institution. Each day began with a chapel service at 9:00 o’clock in the morning attended by several hundred people, and every day that chapel service began with a confession of sin. And I thought to myself, dear Lord, it’s 9:00 o’clock in the morning and we’ve already been bad.

Now, I have no illusions about us being perfect or anything like. I’m just commenting that this dynamic of sin, guilt, and forgiveness is directly correlated with imaging God as the lawgiver and judge who also loves us. I have since learned to call this model of God, the monarchical model of God, from the word for monarch or king. I owe that phrase to the contemporary theologians, Ian Barbour and Sallie McFague. This monarchical model of God takes its name from the common biblical metaphor of God as King and Lord.

As King, God is both lawgiver and judge, and we don’t measure up very well in relationship to God as lawgiver and judge. Who are we in relationship to God as shepherd? We are sheep, of course. Who are we in relationship to God as lawgiver and judge? Well, we’re a defendant. We’re on trial, as it were, and this life, the life we have right now, is about getting it right or doing what we need to do. Depending upon the particular form of Christianity with which we grew up, getting it right might be some combination of right behavior or right belief, with the mixture put together in various ways. This model is softened somewhat, but not much, when parental imagery is substituted for king imagery. Of course, it’s usually father imagery that gets substituted for king imagery. But when the monarchical God is imaged as a parent rather than as a king, it is as the critical parent. God as the disappointed parent, the parent who loves us yes, but on the whole isn’t all that pleased with how we’ve turned out. The monarchical model is thus God as the divine superego in our heads. That voice that ranges and rages along a spectrum from you’re no good, to you’re never quite enough.

This way of imaging God’s character, this model, has several effects on the Christian life. I will very briefly mention four. And as I mention them, ask yourself if you have known forms of Christianity like this. The first of these is that the monarchical God is the God of requirements. It suggests that the Christian life is about measuring up, of doing or believing what God requires of us. Secondly, this way of imaging God’s character leads to an in-group and out-group distinction. There are those that do measure up and those who don’t. There are those who are saved and those who are not. Thirdly, ultimately the monarchical model of God is a God of vengeance. It’s a strong statement, but think about it for a moment. In this way of thinking about God, God is going to get all of those people who do not measure up, who do not meet the requirements. There will be a judgment, either after death with the prospect of heaven or hell, or at the second coming.

To cite a memorable and provocative phrase from my colleague, John Dominic Crossan: the most common Christian vision of the second coming is as "divine ethnic cleansing." Of course, they would never speak of it that way. But think of those visions of the second coming that basically amount to-- God is going to get all of those people who are not like us. Finally, fourthly, rather than liberating us from self-preoccupation, this is the God who focuses our attention on our own salvation; on making sure that we have done or believed what is needful.

There is another image of God, another primary model for imaging God’s character in the biblical tradition as well as in the post-biblical Christian tradition. To give it a shorthand label, I call this one the Divine Lover model. The image of God as lover is very interesting when you think about it; and it’s deeply rooted in the Biblical tradition. It occurs frequently in the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. To cite just one example from the prophets, from Isaiah 43, that wonderful chapter of gospel in the Hebrew Bible, God is portrayed as saying to Israel, "You are precious in my eyes and honored and I love you. Do not be afraid." The image of God as lover is the central image in the Song of Solomon, that collection of erotic love poetry also known as the Song of Songs. By the way, a phrase like Song of Songs or Holy of Holies, it’s the Hebrew way of doing a superlative. The Holy of Holies is the holiest place. The Song of Songs is the best song understood by Jews and Christians alike through the centuries as an allegory of divine love. It is striking that the Song of Songs was the single most popular biblical book among Christians of the Middle Ages. More manuscript copies of that book survived than of any other book in the Bible.

The image of God as lover is also widespread in the New Testament. It is found in the best known verse, John 3:16, which as you all know begins, "For God so loved the world …," and Jesus is seen as the embodiment, the incarnation of the love of God, of God as lover. To image God as lover changes the dynamic of the Christian life dramatically. God is "in love" with us. We are precious in God’s eyes and honored. We are the beloved of God. That’s who we are in relationship to God as lover. God yearns for us. As the contemporary author and theologian Roberta Bondi, from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta puts it in one of her books, "God is besotted with us." That single five-word sentence stood out in neon lights for me when I first read it. "God is besotted with us." For just a moment think of the difference in your life if you knew that at the deepest level of your being that God is besotted with you, that God yearns for you, yearns that you turn and be in relationship with God as the beloved of God.

It’s very different from the monarchical model. The monarchical model puts us on guard. There are requirements to be met, rewards and punishments to be considered. We are defendants on trial. But the Divine Lover model changes the way we see the character of God. Rather than God being the one we need to please, whether through good deeds or earnest repentance and faith, God as lover is passionate about us, yearns to be in relationship with us. Yet there is a danger to the Divine Lover model. The danger is that it can become too individualistic, too sweet, as it were, as if it meant primarily that God loves me. We need to guard against sentimentalizing and individualizing this image, for the image of God as lover means that God loves everybody, not just me and not just us, but everybody. So the image of God as lover is very much associated with a concreteness and particularity of life in this world. As lover, God is liberating. This is the central theme of the most important story that ancient Israel knew, the story of the exodus from Egypt, which meant liberation from an oppression that was simultaneously economic and political and religious. Images of God as liberator continue through Israel’s history and into the New Testament. It is not God’s will that we be slaves in bondage, whether internally or externally.

As lover, God is compassionate. This is God’s character. Compassion, as many of you know, is an unusually rich metaphor in the Bible. It’s related to the word for womb. To say that God is compassionate is to say that God is like a womb or womb-like, life-giving, nourishing. Compassion in the Bible also has resonances associated with the feelings that a mother has for the children of her womb. What are the feelings that a mother has for the children of her womb? Tenderness, of course. Willing their well-being, hope, concern.

And feelings from the womb aren’t simply soft. They can become fierce, as when the children of a mother’s womb are threatened or treated dreadfully. Just as a mother feels compassion for her children and wills their well-being and can become fierce in the defense of her children, so God feels compassion for Her children and wills their well-being and can become fierce in the defense of Her children—all of Her children. 

As lover, God is not only compassionate but also passionate about social justice. God as lover is passionate about social justice with a simple reason that its opposite, systemic injustice is the single greatest source of unnecessary human social misery, of unnecessary human suffering in history. Social justice is the way our well-being is attained in this world. Indeed, God as lover is "in love" not only with us as human beings but even with the non-human world, with the whole of creation. Thus both a passion for justice and a passion for the environment flow out of imaging God as lover.

Depending upon which of these ways of imaging God’s character is emphasized, the character of God is seen very differently and the Christian life is seen very differently. Is it about meeting requirements so that we might be saved someday, or is it about a relationship in the here and now with God as lover? The ethical imperative that goes with each is quite different. For the monarchical model the ethical imperative is, be good because you will be called to account. There will be a judgment. For the divine lover model the ethical imperative is, love that which God loves. So what is the character of your God?

One of the most wonderful post-biblical expressions of God as the divine lover is from George Herbert’s poem, "Love Bade Me Welcome," which some of you will recognize. Herbert was a 17th Century Anglican poet, one of the great Anglican lyrical spiritual poets. I want to close by reading this relatively short poem to you, "Love Bade Me Welcome." The poem is set up as a dialogue between Love, which is Herbert’s word for God, so when you hear the word "Love" here you might also think, "God." The other partner in the dialogue is an imaginary person, perhaps Herbert himself.

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back, 
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack’d anything.
"A guest," I answer’d "worthy to be here";
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"
"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

There are many ways of thinking about that journey of death and resurrection that stands at the center of this season. Today I want to suggest that one of its meanings is dying to life under the lawgiver and judge and rising to new life as the beloved of God.

Lent is about going to Jerusalem, the place of death and resurrection, the place of endings and beginnings, the place where the tomb does become a womb, the place of new life in God. And to return to that marvelous last line from Herbert, "‘You must sit down,’ says Love ‘and taste my meat.’ So I did sit and eat." Amen.
Life is short and we do not have too much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. So be swift to love and make haste to be kind. And the blessings of God, Creator, Christ, and ever-present Spirit with us, go with you this day and forever more. Amen.

Copyright 2000 Dr. Marcus Borg

Congrats, Paul Harper!

I've got send out a big blogosphere shout-out to my man Paul Harper, who married the amazing Rev. Teresa Wellborn last weekend! I was so bummed because I had a scheduling conflict that would not permit me to attend their service but I know it was amazing! Congratulations Paul! I miss ya!
God is good!

My name is Fire Chief Joe!

Yeah, so I have decided to give myself a new name. From hence forth I shall be known as Fire Chief Joe. Like it? I hope so! The reason I have given myself a new name is that I spent the entire day (and up until about 11:00 tonight) putting out fires. My first interaction with a human at the church today involved a fire and my last email tonight involved a fire. Crazy! I am still waiting on one fire to burn itself out but I feel like I've dug an appropriate fire break (like the do in the Northwest) on that one and all of the fires are out! That's my kind of Monday!

I am posting right now while watching game five of the Stanley Cup Finals. As most of you know Sarah and I are season ticket holders with the Dallas Stars and I have been very intentional about not blogging about hockey, because I give an inordinate amount of attention to the sport as it is! We had the chance to attend every playoff game except the first game this year and it was awesome! The Stars had a great season and I loved being back in the area keeping up with them! I am a huge fan of hockey and especially the Stars. ( I will even admit that the grooms cake at my wedding was a giant Stars puck, and it looked and tasted good!) The dj at our wedding might have played the old song the Stars used to skate out to as we came into our reception. Believe it or not, that was not my idea..

I love hockey! It's a game that has nice allegorical possibilities with real life! It can be a beautiful, beautiful sport!

One of these days I will probably play hockey again: I miss it. (Well, except for the broken bones, bruises and torn ligaments!)

What a great game so far tonight! It's 11:20 p.m. and we will soon begin the third OT! Now this is the way to celebrate a day of fire-fighting!

A Beautiful Sunday Morning in North Texas

I can't believe it, it's Sunday morning and I am so prepared that I have five minutes to myself in my office before everything really kicks off at the church! What a great feeling! The sun is shining brightly, this morning's services look to be beautiful and God-honoring and it's communion Sunday! If it were up to me we would observe the Eucharist every Sunday. Holy Communion is one of the most profound ways in which I expeirence God's grace.
This morning we are also singing an amazing anthem by K. Lee Scott called "Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me." I just realized that I left the anthem in the choir room, otherwise I planned to type out the text so you could see it: the poetry and setting are stunning!
I can hear people starting to arrive, so I suppose I ought to get off to the first meeting of the morning!
May you rest in God today and worship God alone!