Category: Reflections

“Help me understand hope.” It was a couple of years ago. Hers were those “friendly eyes” a speaker looks for in the audience, belonging to the handful of folks who let you know the message is heard. Now she wanted to go deeper. “I know what hope means…in my head, ” she said, “but I can’t […]

What’s the truth? The tinge of arthritis in my shoulder doesn’t care if I believe it’s there. The doc showed me proof, right there on the x-ray in black-and-white. The objective, observable, scientific truth is that I have a bit of arthritis in my shoulder. I can acknowledge it and deal with it, or lie about it and […]

I think a self-driving car would be cool. In college I commuted with an electrical engineering student. Jack was convinced that we’d see self-driving cars within a few years, and he spent countless hours telling me how they would work. I don’t recall details, but I remember there were two notions about guidance. I’m over-simplifying, […]

Election season likely has us all a bit flustered. How do we keep our eye on the dream when there’s so much noise and sheer craziness oozing from every corner of the culture? After a coffee conversation with a wise friend (and a nice, peaceful bike ride), I listed a few ideas. Perhaps they’ll help. […]

Yesterday we celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There’s a risk in setting aside a special day to commemorate Dr. King’s life. We may invest ourselves in a one-day avalanche of feel-good quotes and Facebook memes, then return to business as usual. That would be a shame, because it’s clear that Dr. […]

Poor Charlie Brown. He wanted so badly to discover the true meaning of Christmas, but his friends were too caught up in their activities and busyness to hear his desperation. They decided the answer was to involve him in their craziness by having him direct a modernized version of the Christmas story. When that didn’t […]

An enemy is coming for us. A terrible enemy threatens the very core of all we hold dear. The media, the politicians, sadly even many preachers proclaim the power and might of this ruthless adversary who strikes with reckless disregard for collateral casualties. This enemy entices us to strike back in anger. The anger may […]

The long arc of the moral universe bends toward justice. Hate will not rule the day. Violence won’t have the final word. That’s what we believe, and that’s why we can’t be discouraged. It’s hard, isn’t it? It’s hard when we’re surrounded by evidence suggesting we’re fools to actually believe and follow Jesus. Love your […]

I’m not impressed by fancy titles. I’ve been fortunate enough to be close to a few people with big-time titles to realize they’re just regular men and women, with the same issues, struggles, and brokenness as the rest of us. I’ve become skeptical of the notion of positional authority. “Chief Muckety-Muck, PhD” at the top […]