August 6, 2010 "Sabbatical Leave, Final Reflections"

With our days in France winding down, some final reflections on our fourteen weeks here in Aix-en-Provence. To begin with, the beauty in the Provence region of France is spectacular—nothing like I have ever seen. From the beaches along the Cote D’Azur, to the hovering mountains, and up and down the rolling hillsides, the beauty draws you in. Historic, quaint and adorable towns and villages built on hilltops; and below, rolling valleys and rich, verdant farm lands and vineyards. Wherever you turn, there is an unmistakable sense of antiquity. Roman ruins, for example, are everywhere. Castle-like structures, fortresses, churches, amphitheatres, and endless walls for protection; all of these scattered elements greet you as you enter a new village—usually built, if possible, on a hillside or hilltop.

July 16, 2010 "Ten days in Greece and Turkey"

I’ve always wanted to see the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, spend a few days on a Greek island (one of those islands featuring the whitewashed homes looking out onto the azure ocean waters) and walk along the way of the Apostle Paul at the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey. For ten days in late June, Yvette and I were able to do all of this.

July 2, 2010 "Navigating the streets of French towns and cities"

Since our arrival in France two months ago, we continue to be impressed at how the French navigate the narrow streets and byways of their towns and cities. I’m speaking, of course, about the town centers that were built centuries ago (we live in the town center of Aix with one of these narrow streets right below our third story windows). At some points, some of these streets are barely twenty feet wide.

June 18, 2010 "Conversation partenaires"

With our goal of becoming conversational in French, early on we began to seek out conversation partners. By now (we’ve been here around six weeks), we’ve settled into a weekly routine of sessions with three very different French persons. They are all interesting and helpful to us in different ways. The goal of the conversation sessions is for us to help them with their English while, in turn, they help us with our French. Even though the French—understandably—have great pride in their country, their history and their language (l’esprit Francais is legendary), still, fluency in English has great appeal to them. This is mostly because—increasingly—English is the international language. Hopefully, as Americans, this inspires a humble reaction in us while, at the same time, prompting us to learn other languages ourselves, as we are able.

June 4, 2010 "The Popularity of Petanque"

At the Petanque site we visited, most of the players were retired men (Word has it that the Petanque games get them out of the house). Like everything else in sports and games, the competition can become fiery and, clearly, there are pecking orders of talented and winning players. Being, historically, a competitive person myself, my son-in-law commented to my daughter, This game would be great for your dad. He’d fit right in here. We’ll have to see how things play out on that one.

May 21, 2010 "Summer in Provence"

As part of a four-month Sabbatical leave, Jeffrey Frantz is currently living in Aix-en-Provence, France (140,000 people, thirty miles west of Marseille), along with his wife, Yvette, and their five-year old chitz-a-poo dog, Niko. While in France, Echoes of the Heart will be comprised of his reflections and musings on a Summer en Provence. If you wish, you can follow his blog at http://summerinprovence.blogspot.com.

April 2, 2010 "A Lenten reflection: Can we tell the truth about ourselves?"

As human beings, we need to be able to tell the truth about what’s in our hearts. Too often in our culture, we see such truth-telling as weakness (this is particularly true with us men) and we think if we show we are needy in this way, that we are in some way deficient. For all of us, there are things in our mind and spirit—human tendencies and habits—for which we need forgiveness. That doesn’t make us needy; it makes us human.

March 19, 2010 "How vulnerable are we?"

March 5, 2010 "Covenantal commitments and Tiger Woods"

February 19, 2010 "Life-lessons from Super Bowl 44"

February 5, 2010 "Haiti: beyond the human loss and devastation"

January 15, 2010 "Parlez vous francais?"

Learning a new language is always a challenge, of course, but I’ve been this route before. The overarching key is to have an immersion experience where you are compelled to speak the language as an unfolding part of your daily routine.

January 1, 2010 "Of what will our children sing?"

With all the upheaval in recent times, we cannot keep ourselves from wondering: what kind of a world are we passing on to our children and grandchildren? In other words, Of what will our children sing? The best of our generals pursue a winning strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Our expert economists seek enduring solutions to our beleaguered economy. Our politicians volley contentiously back and forth about health care reform; and the nations of the earth come together to sort out the challenges of climate change. In the big picture of life on planet earth, there’s a lot going on and even more at stake.

December 18, 2009 "The ambiguity of the holiday season"

The joy of life comes through the struggle and the tears. It comes on the shoulders of our suffering and sorrow. As our religious holy days unfold before us during this holiday season, if we resolve to push on (keeping the faith), meanings and truths will rise up and give way to a cheerfulness within—on the other side of our imperfect lives, on the other side of regret and disappointment.

For all those whom we hallow in sacred memory, for the deeply distressed in our midst, and for ourselves, let the life that God gives be celebrated. Come, O Holy One, come!

December 4, 2009 "The blessings of a generous spirit"

Did you know that giving is good for you? Again and again, studies have shown that giving makes people happy. It makes us feel better about ourselves.

For many people, giving is the most fun part of Christmas and the holiday season; no surprise there. Clearly, there’s joy in giving—for both the giver and the receiver.

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November 20, 2009 "Becoming a grandpa and the transitions of life"

The miracle of child birth. Child birth continues to be the most amazing unfolding—how these adorable human infants come into the world so completely formed, everything in the right place (thank God), from the complexity of their eyes to their tiny finger nails.

At its best, the birthing process is a singularly phenomenal event, utterly humbling and joyous. These infant ones are bearers of the same genetic pool that gave us life. And always, they remind us of the sanctity of life. In them, we see both our past and our future—the recurring traits that are carried on through them, along with the new features to which the creative process points.

November 6, 2009 "The ambiguity of suffering"

On the one hand, through no outside intent, bad things happen to good people; they just happen. Good, righteous, God-fearing people suffer—through no apparent fault of their own. This was at the heart of the story of Job in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible.

Sometimes we experience this with family and friends—people we’ve loved and cared about on the deepest of levels—who suffer heart-wrenching personal loss through disease (usually cancer) or random accidents.

On the other hand, this same human suffering creates in us new possibilities for understanding and feeling that enable us to love and nurture in ways that we perhaps could not before. Therein lies … the ambiguity of suffering.

October 16 2009 "The many pathways to God."

As a person of faith, I have always believed there are many pathways to God. And just because someone is not in my group and doesn’t think like I do or talk like I do doesn’t mean their pathway to God is any lesser than mine. It’s simply different.

Always, one of the dangers in the Christian Church, or in any faith tradition, is to be too exclusive in anything we do; too exclusive in membership, in who can take Communion or be baptized or married or buried or whatever it is.

October 2, 2009 "No regrets! Really?"

To not regret imprudent or immoral actions simply because things seem to have settled and we’ve been able to move on with our lives underestimates the possibly painful consequences. It feeds an the ends justify the means mentality that trivializes the depths of the pain and hurt we cause people along our life’s journey.

Sometimes, long after a husband’s adulterous affair, both husband and wife will comment how their marriage is actually better and how they’ve grown to this wonderful new stage of marital bliss.

Still, is there no regret? Would the husband now say to his forgiving spouse, I’m so glad, now, that I committed adultery, aren’t you?

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September 18, 2009 "Common sense any one? "

When we apply common sense to some of the recent controversies sweeping across our land, beginning with the President’s speech to school children and youth, we begin to wonder, what’s up with us?

Does it make any sense that the President of the United States, a hands-on parent of two young girls, a man who has a pattern of cautious deliberation in everything he does, would suddenly go off track and say something inappropriate for school-age children/youth? Again, is there even a trace of logic in such a fear?

September 4, 2009 "When freedom of expression goes too far"

As Americans, historically, our identity is linked to our freedom. Land of the free, home of the brave, we say. We take our cherished freedoms seriously.

Still, freedom has its context—the health and safety of the wider world in which we live. When the life-energy and well-being of that context are threatened, bringing potential violence into the public square in the name of freedom of expression, for example, we’ve gone too far. Even freedom has its limits.

August 21, 2009 "Dealing with compulsivity"

No doubt we all have some level of compulsive inclination. The key is to recognize it in ourselves, understand it and find ways of turning it into a strength. There’s nothing inherently wrong with counting things or wanting to straighten out the colorful painting on the wall in our neighbor’s family room.

At the same time, there are certain things that we’d be better off letting go of—things that were said or that happened to us that are of small consequence. In human relations, we have to pick and choose our battles. Most of the time, we’re better off letting go of things that are really trivial or silly and welcoming the new day with a clean slate and a fresh beginning.

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August 7, 2009 "Obesity and our kids: what’s up?"

Parental involvement. No matter how we sort out solutions to adolescent obesity, at some point it comes back to the parents. Clearly, parents have to be involved and take a serious measure of responsibility for the life-styles of their children.

To a considerable extent, parents are role models for their children’s life choices—for diet and eating patterns, for what they do with their leisure time, and for life-style choices for physical fitness along the way.

Always, a hands-on approach is most effective: eating together as families (whenever possible), exercising together as well, and organizing our time in ways that promote physical fitness and social interaction.

July 17, 2009 When fame becomes too big—too much.

Today is the observance of the Michael Jackson Memorial in Los Angeles, CA. Not just here in the United States, but around the planet, millions and millions of people are dialed in—taking in the performance tributes and listening to the expressions of praise and adulation.

Sometimes it’s sobering to remind ourselves that celebrities are human beings like us. They simply have a lot more variables to deal with. Perhaps we can most appreciate the celebrities we are prone to adore by simply valuing ourselves more—our own lives and prospects—and allowing these famed ones the freedom and happiness of a more peaceful existence

July 3, 2009 "Following your passion"

June 19, 2009 "The grass is not always greener"

Is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence? Would we be happier in life with another career path, with a move to another house or to a neighboring city or state? It’s easy to get drawn into the illusion that the grass is always greener somewhere else, isn’t it?

May 15, 2009 "Not everything can be fixed"

Understandably, it’s not easy giving up on a relationship—admitting that it is what it is and moving on with our lives. This is particularly the case if we have a compulsive impulse tugging away in our spirit. We want to find a way to make it work. We don’t like the idea of giving up a

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May 1, 2009 "Who are we?"

Who am I and who are you? Questions of identity always fascinate, don’t they? Are we really the person we present to our surrounding world each day? Or is there another us, another secret person in us begging to be released?

This latter description would seem to describe Susan Boyle, the forty-seven year old unemployed charity worker from a small village in Scotland who wowed the world with her singing recently on the U.K. Television show, Britain’s Got Talent.

The key to her sudden fame is the marked contrast between the way she presented herself on the show and the impression she made once she started singing.

April 17, 2009 "Does everything happen for a reason?"

The problem with everything happening for a reason is that it can be an enormous copout. Where’s the individual responsibility? More still—from God’s point of view—when God gave us freedom at the dawning of creation, God relinquished control and chose to trust, instead, the goodness of our choices and the generosity of our spirit.

When we choose poorly and make a mess of things (which is much of the time), through a sorrow that at times fractures God’s own heart, God forgives and—hopefully—we find the renewal and purpose to move on.

April 6, 2009 "Religion Talk"

Part of what is both inviting and of concern about religion—both exhilarating and repugnant—is that it offers the best and the worst of our human experience. Almost always, this has to do with interpretation.

How do we interpret our sacred writings and what conclusions do we make about them? In the Christian faith, for example, the way we read the Bible is critical. If we read the Bible literally, assuming that every word and story are to be believed in a literal way (i.e., the miracles literally happened as opposed to being metaphors).

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March 6, 2009 "Looking up when we’re feeling down"

Some time ago, I read a newspaper column where the author suggested—straight away—that optimists have more friends.

If you think about it, it’s probably true; and why not? Don’t most of us prefer to be in the company of people with a positive outlook?

I run into people all the time who are die-hard optimists. I’m referring to folks who are determined—day in and day out, week after week¬¬—to be upbeat, to have a good day. In my countless conversations with my late father, when I would ask him if he was having a good day, every time he would reply, I refuse to have a bad day; every day is a good day.

February 20, 2009 "Life transitions—Bill Graham"

I remember Bill for his wonderful World War II stories, his unflappable optimism and for fun, fiery conversations on just about everything. Around discussions of international relations, national politics, sports and global warming, what I liked most about Bill was his passion for life.

Through the countless stories and vivid memories recalled, over time, the qualities of greatness that made him such a highly respected and revered man were revealed. As we think about ourselves and our own lives among family and friends, what are some of the qualities of greatness that lift us to a higher place?

February 6, 2009 "The larger meaning of Obama’s Inauguration"

More than anything, the January 20th Inauguration of President Barack Obama in our nation’s capitol was a day of hope realized, a day when the heavens rejoiced. It was a time of unstinting unity and coming together, a time when the world seemed to pause—if for only a day—and rejoice in surreal splendor.

It was more than a mere happening. It was a richly symbolic event, symbolic of a purification and redemption of the American spirit. No matter who we are as Americans in 2009, it’s important that we grasp the symbolism and the attendant meanings.

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January 16, 2009 "Transitions"
Transitions overflow with possibilities. For many of us, some transition might be the best thing that could happen to us. It might nudge us out of our stupor and awaken us to experiences of self-discovery and self-realization we never thought possible. Often times, a career move, a new relationship or some new learning can do wonders for our spirit.

January 2, 2009 The power of the new year
The power of the New Year. The power of the New Year is seen in the power of tomorrow which is always symbolic of hope. Tomorrow, anything can happen. Tomorrow, change can come, transformation can take place. As the poet reminds us, the night cannot forever hold back the dawn.

Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to make sense out of today … and yesterday. Sometimes the yesterdays of our lives are so overcome with sadness and grief, with disappointment and regret, that the only way we can make sense of things is by what we choose to do tomorrow and in the days ahead.

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December 19, 2008 "Glimpses of hope"
Wherever it is that darkness looms; wherever it is that cynicism abounds—the darkness and cynicism that don’t know love and that can’t hear the voice of the God of new beginnings; in all of these places God says:

Come, all of you, into my presence. No matter your group or your religion; no matter anything about you. Come, and be blessed in my presence, and begin again.

For wherever the Christ child is born—which is anywhere and everywhere—new beginnings are possible.

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December 5, 2008 "Destination: the other side of the financial crisis "

With the holiday season in full bloom and the New Year soon to break through, still, the global financial crisis remains the number one story. Everywhere, it’s got people talking.

What’s both curious and alarming about our economic woes is that nobody really knows what to do. Still, I have no doubt that over the next few years, if not sooner, we’ll find our way to the other side. Nonetheless, for the moment, it makes us nervous.

What does it all mean? And on a more personal front, for all of us, how secure are our jobs, to say nothing of our retirement and our savings?

November 21, 2008 The meaning of Obama’s win
In the afterglow of election 2008, there were no losers; only a nation of winners and an international community of admirers. This was America at our best. We campaign hard, we go to the polls and vote, and then we move on.

We Americans have a tremendous capacity for imagination. In election 2008, more than ever, we dared to imagine a post-racial America, an America with a new resolve to be redeemed of our awful sin of slavery.

November 7, 2008 Aren’t we all Americans?
On November 5th, it will be time to move beyond the contentiousness of red-state, blue-state; time to shut the door on the real America versus the other America, or the real Virginia (or Florida, or whatever it is) and the other Virginia. It will be time to celebrate the richness of our democracy.

One of the greatest strengths of our nation is our incredible diversity. We’re a nation of immigrants. Indeed, the vast majority of us bear the seed of ancestors who, coming from their homeland, got off a boat sometime, somewhere.

October 17, 2008 "The economic crisis and the Ten Commandments"

As we Americans find ourselves mired in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression back in the late 1920’s and throughout the 30’s, signals of alarm are all about.

What does it all mean?

In spite of the recent bailout legislation passed by congress, credit contraction is still the major issue as financial markets struggle to find a path to recovery. Millions of us around the country can’t help but wonder: are we going to be alright? Three months from now, six months, a year and beyond??

October 3, 2008 "When we lose our parents"

On September 19th, my father died, one day shy of his 91st birthday. My mother had already preceded him in death in January of 2007. Certainly, it’s a blessing that my parents lived long, productive lives; and it’s a great joy to remember that they had sixty-seven wonderful years of married life together.

Still, for me, there’s a sense of deep loss in my father’s death. My parents have always been the core element in my identity as a person. They were that place called home, that I called every week (in later years, every night). They were the glue that held our closely-knit family together—the source for updates on what was going on with my three siblings and their respective families

September 19, 2008 "Hurricane bluster"

There are, indeed, things to be taken seriously. Are we listening? To the mood of the community and nation? To the calls from the underside for change and a more hopeful future? To the cries from underneath for health care, more equitable education, and more opportunity to provide for our families.

The rumblings from Ike awaken us from our slumber; and we remember. It’s time to get prepared. Time to do what we need to do to brace ourselves for the very real danger tomorrow poses.

September 5, 2008 "Letting go and moving on"

In our life-journey, many of us say things or do things that we wish, looking back, we could undo. In a relationship, perhaps, or in our career path; with our finances or with some moral dilemma or challenge. Hey, it’s the human situation. We’re not perfect, we’re human; and sometimes we stumble and fall and make mistakes, and sometimes we even fail.

August 15, 2008 "Why male athletes struggle with retirement"

The question for someone like Brett Favre eventually becomes, does the appeal of playing outweigh the appeal of going out on top? At this juncture, Favre’s answer seems to be a resounding yes. However, after a few months back (if that, in fact, happens), he may change his mind and the appeal of retirement may win the day once again.

Moving on and the meaning of life. For many of us, in all realms of life, retirement can come too soon and leave us grasping for a new sense of meaning and life-purpose. More and more, retirement-age people are asking: if I like what I’m doing, why should I retire? To do what?

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August 1, 2008 "The 2008 Olympics: let the games begin!"

Straight away, the Olympic Games are the best thing we do on planet earth. Although always vulnerable to political protest and unrest, nonetheless, the games give us the best glimpse we have of possibility across the globe. Through it all and rising above it all, the Olympic slogan endures: One world, one dream.

May it be so!

Always, the opening ceremonies set the tone. Celebrated performers Celine Dion and Taiwan’s Jay Chou will headline the festivities, along with thousands more in the total cast of participants.

But the sacred moment of the games is the athletes entering the Olympic stadium—from every nation of the earth—and then the lighting of the Olympic torch. The symbolism overflows with feelings and meanings caught up in the high hopes we hold for One world, one dream

July 18, 2008 "Patriotism: a messy sorting out"

If we reflect on it, what is patriotism? Is it sporting an American flag lapel pin on our dress or suit coat? Is it displaying an American flag in front of our home on special holidays?

Is patriotism supporting our government no matter what it does, or is it respectful dissent when our government falls short of our expectations and our sense of our Founding Fathers’ ideals?

July 04-2008 "Making blended families work"

Blending two families together, after a divorce or the death of a parent, is seldom an easy transition. Always, there are adjustments to be made on all sides.

The starting point for the blended-family process is the actual divorce itself, or loss of a parent, as the case may be. Working through these particular losses take time, understanding, discernment and, in some cases, forgiveness.

However, it’s imperative to deal with these endings in healthy ways—ways that minimize unfinished business, like remorse, anger or grief.

June 22, 2008 "Geography anyone?"

A greater awareness of global geography, along with a refresher course on world history, would go a long way in helping us put a face on the rest of the international community, an important step in building relations of mutual understanding and peace.

The demands of the twenty-first century are going to radically alter the way the world functions and, therein, the way we Americans need to embrace the world if we are to be successful while, at the same time, being constructive global partners with our brothers and sisters across the planet.

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June 6, 2008 "Remembering fathers"
One of the most challenging parts of being a father is finding the right balance in our role as husband, father and provider. My father did an excellent job of sorting all this out. All the time, as my three siblings and I remember our childhood, dad seemed to seamlessly traverse these roles.

At our best, we fathers want to make sure our families are okay. We want our wives to feel cherished, honored (as the mother of our children) and fulfilled as a human person. We want our children to have the best possible chance to realize their innate gifts and to lead purposeful and contented lives.

May 16, 2008 "Are you living the good life?"
The process is where we struggle and strive and work things out; it’s where we learn and grow as we live out our commitments and responsibilities. Our lives are about the journey, which urges us to stop and smell the roses along the way.

One day at a time. Part of our problem as Americans is that, too often, we’re in a hurry. We want instant everything; instant food, instant transportation, instant good health, instant results at work. Due largely, perhaps, to our consumer-crazed culture, we’re not a patient people.

May 2, 2008 "Just a little more"
How much do you want in life? Or, stated differently, how much do you think you need? How much income and security? How much knowledge and insight? How much reassurance about health and safety?
If we tell the truth, what we really want is as much reassurance of certainty that we can get.

April 18, 2008 "Beyond stereotypes"
At best, a stereotype gives us only a superficial reading of a real person. Therefore, when meeting a person for the first time, while we can’t help but hold some stereotypes in mind, we have to be ready to move beyond these stereotypes at any point.

For me, personally, relationships are more about spirit than any other unifying category. While age and personal interests are important, to a point, they’re never the primary determinant of who I value spending time with.

April 4, 2008 "Race Talk"
Inside the black church. The black church, since its inception during the days of slavery, has historically been a place where black people (this was particularly important for the black male) could be free. Free to stand tall and lead; free to unpack deep-seeded pain, egregious injustice and dehumanization. Free, if only briefly, to be a man (or woman), a dignified human being.

Couple this with the biblical precedent for strong prophetic preaching (i.e., preaching truth to power), and you have a recipe for the sort of fiery and incendiary language unveiled in some of Rev. Wright’s sermons. In a word, as any of us who have spent much time in the black church know, fiery preaching is not an uncommon experience. That is not to say we agree with it; but it is to suggest that we understand it.

March 21, 2008 "Finding our way back"

Finding our way back from the jaws of any defeat, failure or set back—from times when we haven’t been at our best—is to a great extent a matter of attitude and perspective; it’s a question of belief, faith and hope.

March 7, 20008 "A key to success and inner peace- don't covet"

February 15, 2008 "Election fever"
Leadership that inspires. I don’t know about you, but I want to be inspired. And I want to be inspired by a leader who displays size as a person. A person with size, a big person, is a person who can deal with the diversity of our human situation in ways that make everybody better.

A person with size is a person who understands ambiguity, that life doesn’t come to us in clear shades of black and white but, rather, in various hues of gray. To have size is to—all the time—see the big picture, the inter-relatedness of all things.

February 1, 2008 "Called"

...our calling comes over time and over years of sorting ourselves out. Often times, discovering our calling only comes when we’re willing to risk trying new things. For example, traveling abroad, learning a new language, taking an interesting class, or attending a challenging seminar can all be springboards to uncovering a special calling in life.

January 18, 2008 "Change is all the rage"
The inevitability of change. Change is, of course, nothing new to any of us. We may resist it, even going to considerable ends to avoid it, but change, ultimately, will have the last word. We’re always in the grip of one transition or another. Along with the ongoing unfolding of the universe, as the days march on and the years pile up, change is the way of things.

January 4, 2008 "Taking the high road"
With the dawning of the New Year, it’s an opportune time to take pause and dare to imagine the year ahead. What do we want it to be like? What are some of our deepest hopes and dreams?

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December 21, 2007 "Are we alive, or just going through the motions?"
Christmas and the holidays, with the New Year on the horizon, are an intense time of the year. It’s not just the busyness—the rushed shopping, festive office parties, and the harried schedules around family gatherings.

December 7, 2007 "Through the eyes of hope"
"With the holidays breaking upon us, it’s a wild and crazy time. We can sort of feel it in the air. The pace picks up. Little by little, the pressure builds … to the inevitable point where we have less and less discretionary time.
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November 16, 2007 "The first holidays without mom"
Always, it’s the best of times and the worst of times. The best of times for obvious reasons: family gatherings of all kinds and—with bowed heads and celebratory hearts—the living out of our family traditions. Holiday traditions carry forth some of the peak moments of our lives. Poignant memories overflow, just as new expectations rise once again in our eager spirits

October 19, 2007 "Who do we exclude?"
The reality of our lives is that we exclude all the time, some of it intentional; most of it unintentional. To some extent, we exclude by where we live, where we go to school, where we work out, where we shop, and where we go to church or synagogue.

Much of the time these decisions are based on convenience or safety. Still, there is a natural tendency to live out our lives in situations and communities where people are more like us."

October 5, 2007 "When God seems absent"

"Crises of faith are not uncommon to the human situation.  Nor are they necessarily unhealthy.  It’s human to doubt, to wonder, and to long for a more transparent presence of the Divine.

In the cover story of the September 3rd issue of TIME Magazine, we learned of the stunning revelation of Mother Teresa’s fifty-year crisis of faith—her prolonged dark night of the soul experience when God seems somehow painfully absent.

For me, these unfoldings elevate Mother Teresa’s stature all the more as a person of compassion and love, making her even more saintly and worthy of our veneration.  She was as human as you or I.  Hallelujah!  We can relate. " 

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September 21, 2007 "Taking the first step"

My guess is that people of belief (and unbelief) pass through similar valleys of existential doubt and cold fear from time to time.  It’s the human situation.  Moreover, often times it’s useful to hang-in-there with our doubts and not be too quick to suppress them.  If we’re eager and persistent, the light will come.

On the other side of our doubts, what if Julian of Norwich is right?  What if the joy (and the hope) of resurrection faith recaptures a flicker of the joy at creation—a joy to be realized again in the last days?   

September 7, 2007 "Taking the first step"

The good news about a process of discipline is that anyone can do it.  Any human person can be disciplined enough to achieve their goals.  Sometimes we lack the discipline because of the way we think about the challenge before us.  In our mind, it’s become too large, too improbable.  When in fact, if we can break it down into more manageable parts (manageable size and time frame), the challenge becomes more doable. 

Breaking things down into manageable time segments is important also because it reduces our anxiety.  Moreover, it’s helpful to realize that we don’t have to have everything all worked out today, at this moment.  Part of the discipline process is doing what we can today (without going overboard) and then repeating the process again tomorrow.   

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August 17, 2007  "Back to School"
New opportunities, new challenges.  On the plus side, however, back to school is an opportunity for a fresh start.  Maybe fourth grade wasn’t such a good experience.  But you’re in fifth grade, now, and it’s a new year.  It’s a chance to develop new friendships, put forth a new attitude, and see where the spirit leads"

August 3, 2007 "Professional sports and the challenge to the sacred trust"

"... the spirit of sport is violated when the competitors cheat.  The whole meaning of the games that we play is undermined.  Performances are altered, therefore affecting final outcomes.

The sacred trust.  If we think about it, there’s a certain sacred trust in all of life.  We assume, we trust, that people are going to comport themselves in a particular way.

In community life, there’s the trust of some level of common civility, decency and good manners.  There are always exceptions of course, but for the most part, most people indeed are civil, decent and reasonably well-mannered."

July 20, 2007 "Are you happy with your life?
"...We’re sailing through life; things seem to be going well.
We have the nice home, reliable transportation, a job that we like, wonderful family and
friends … and yet, one day we run out of fuel.
We can’t explain it, but there’s a throbbing emptiness within rooted in a yearning to
somehow be connected to something more.
The emptiness prompts in us the feeling, What’s it all about? Where am I going with my
life? Am I happy? Am I fulfilled? Am I living a life of meaning and purpose?"

July 6, 2007 "Let freedom ring … and responsibility, too!"

"The Statue of Liberty remains a symbol of our freedom around the globe. As Americans,
we are proud of our freedom, and rightly so. But what about responsibility for this
freedom? Where is the statue of responsibility for the freedoms we so cherish?
Like everything else (the point that needs to be made), freedom has a context. We have a
right to free speech, but we do not have a right to shout out fire, fire—on a ruse or on a
bet from a friend—in a theater or stadium packed with people."

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May 18, 2007 "Love never ends"
As we work our way through things, it’s encouraging to be reminded that tough times are love’s moment; love’s moment to rise up, to lift our spirit, to reinterpret today in light of whatever new possibilities have sprung forth. 

The truth is, love can take us to new places—love that deepens commitment, that strengthens resolve.  To know again, to be reminded, that our family and friends believe in us, that they value us, that they want so much for us to be well and alive to the promises God holds for our lives.

May 4, 2007 "Virginia Tech massacre: a glimpse into another world ."
" As the harsh reality of last week's Virginia Tech massacre continues to settle in, on the other side of the horror and the outpouring of compassion and sympathy for the fallen and their families, part of what we're left with is a glimpse into another world ."

April 20, 2007    "Are we measuring Up"
"When you reflect on your life, do you have a sense that you've measured up as a person? As you think back, have you achieved or underachieved? Have you surpassed or fallen short of personal and parental expectations? "

April 6, 2007- "American Idol and the American dream"
"However, what's both fun and delightful with American Idol is watching the evolution-the unfolding and development-of the young aspirants along the way (Indeed, many of them are truly diamonds in the rough ). With some of them, each week there's a new sense of presence and an elevated confidence"

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March 16, 2007 "Dealing with temptation"
“Everyday we make choices about what forces within us we’re going to feed, about what vision of our life we’re going to live out. Our challenge through it all is to feed the voices that affirm the common good and to seek a closer walk with the One who is the Giver of life in all seasons.”

March 2, 2007 - "Love and marriage; it's hard work"
“Part of what makes marriage and any committed relationship hard is that we have to give up stuff we don’t want to give up. We have to make adjustments, talk things through, value and appreciate the individual differences of the other person. To the point: we have to be willing to find common ground.”                      Return to top

February 16, 2007- "Stuff we need to be able to talk about"
“What is clear is that burying the feelings is not a healthy path to venture down. Always, in appropriate ways, these feelings need to be expressed. Expressing them allows us to deal head-on with what is bothering us. On the other hand, ignoring the feelings (trying to act like they don’t exist) often times results in anger and resentment building up in our spirit.“

February 2, 2007: "When we lose a parent"
"After all, it’s mom. We only have one mother; and always, mothers are sacred. They birthed us and nurtured us into adulthood. They traveled with us through thick and through thin. In most circumstances, they loved us unconditionally. We could always count on mom."

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- January 19, 2007: "Looking for the good in life"
"In the busyness of our lives, with our hectic schedules and over-loaded routines, easily, we lose sight of the power of the present; the power of the moment to inspire and remind us again of the essential goodness of life."

- January 5, 2007: "Truth-telling and looking ahead"
"It’s the New Year, a time for lofty resolutions and the high hope of new beginnings. With the passing of the old year and the dawning of the new, it’s a symbolic time for an experience of grace."

- December 15, 2006: "It's the holidays! Cut yourself some slack and enjoy"
"Are you going to enjoy the holy season that is before us this year? Or are you determined to ruin it with elusive expectations of perfection and with a rat-race schedule that leaves you gasping for air?"

- December 1, 2006:  "This I believe!"
"What do you believe? What are the principles, ideas, and truths that you hold to be foundational for your life? About what can you say, with conviction and passion, This I believe?"

- November 17, 2006:  "Okay, we got it wrong -the Dolphins and other stuff"
"Think how boring our lives would be if all we ever did was call it right. Make the right investment, choose the right life-time mate, opt for the right career, and select the right players in fantasy football."

- November 3, 2006: "Dealing with stressful relationships"
"The key in any stressful relationship is to gain enough control so we don’t feel trapped and powerless. There comes a point in many relationships where—simply put—we have to take care of ourselves. We do that by taking control of the relationship. A good way of taking control is to establish boundaries."                                     Return to top

- October 2, 2006: "First Impressions"
"How we respond to the challenges these games present is telling. The comments we make, the way we accept our successes and failures. All of this reveals aspects and dimensions of our spirit, our character, and our general disposition towards the big picture of life."

- September 15, 2006: "9/11: Five years later"
"September 11, 2001 will forever be a reflection point in the history of our republic if not, indeed, in the history of our planet. The sordid events of that fateful day, and their consequences, continue to shape our conversation and agenda around the globe."

- September 1, 2006:  "Don’t let your good become the enemy of your best"
"For any of us in life, it’s easy to yield to the tug of mediocrity. The problem with not giving our best, with being too satisfied with our good, is that, once done, it becomes a habit. And easily, we convince ourselves that it’s good enough."

- August 18, 2006:  "A vision for peace"
"As the mindless violence with Israel and Hezbollah plunges, daily, into a deeper and ever-widening abyss, the spirit of the fallen cries out: where will it all end? What has to happen to bring a cessation to the endless spiral of death and destruction on both sides?"

- August 4, 2006:  "Are you compulsive?"
"Compulsive impulses live, to some extent, in all of us. The impulse, for example, to put things in place and to maintain a certain order to our life. The impulse to get it right with descriptive information that is being shared, or to set the record straight in the who’s right/ who’s wrong games we play with one another."

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- July 21, 2006:  "Restful vacations"
"Whatever happened to the rest and recovery part of vacations? For countless Americans, they’ve apparently become a thing of the past. This is particularly the case when travel plans include endless hours at airports, train stations and bus depots."

- July 7, 2006:  "More than winning and losing"
"Although competition is often derided by some in our wider culture, apart from the competition (the actual game), we don’t know to what heights we can rise. We don’t know the extent of our personal resources: the passion in our heart, the toughness of our spirit, the artistry and athleticism of our body."

- June 16, 2006:  "Beyond regret"
"Regrets, over time, can build into a sort of low level depression to where they wear us down and sour our spirit. Regrets, too, of things undone, things we never followed through on; like finishing an academic degree or some certification program to further our career."

- June 2, 2006:  "Beyond we and they"
"All the time, we point the finger at they. The problem is, how to get we and they together? How to convince people and persuade people to embrace our life-situation from a we/ we rather than the we/ they perspective. We/ they thinking serves only to divide and alienate. Whereas we/ we promotes harmony and shared responsibility."Return to top    

- May 19, 2006: "Are you here? Where are you?"
"Do any of us ever feel like we have enough time? Enough time for family and friends? Enough time for exercise? Enough time for personal rest and recovery? And because the common rhythm of our lives is rush, rush, rush, much of the time we’re not dialed-in to the moment. We’re doing one thing, but focused on something else."

- May 5, 2006: "You can't have it all!"
"In compromise, we meet people half way. Spouse, child, parent, colleague in the workplace, whomever; we have to meet people somewhere in the middle, giving up things we’d prefer not to give up but giving them up, nonetheless, because that’s what the relationship, to be healthy, asks of us."

- April 21, 2006: "When the best is drawn out of us"
"In its purest form, part of what makes the world of sport so engaging (to the point of being a spiritual experience) is that the competition itself (the pursuit of victory) becomes the occasion for the best to be drawn out of us. We don’t know how good (or bad) we are. We have a sense, perhaps. But we don’t really know."

- March 17, 2006: "Too much stress?"
"For some people, the mere mention of the word sin sends them running for the hills. Too easily, we associate it with guilt or being a bad person. However, in the larger sense, sin is a poisoning or overloading of the spirit; it's a distancing from God."

- March 3, 2006: "Marriage and love"
"The problem with love in this conversation is that it is too narrowly defined. By love, too often we mean interpersonal compatibility and sexual gratification. Too easily, the depths of love get lost in the feelings and hormones of romance."

- February 17, 2006: "Divorce: from the child's point of view"
"Seldom do we hear much of the suffering of children of divorce. But think about it! To begin with, the child is left with two worlds (the world of mom and the world of dad) to reconcile and make sense of. The usual tension and conflict of bringing two worlds together in marriagenormally handled by the parents is passed on from the adults to the child."

- February 3, 2006: "When we lose a child"
"Apart from separation from God, the worst thing that can happen to us in life is the death of a child. It doesn't matter how old they are. They're still our babies. Furthermore, we're supposed to outlive them. When they precede us in death, our life plan and expectation paradigm are turned upside down."

- January 6, 2006: "Let's go and see!"
"Sometimes the only way we're going to find out who we are and what's going on with us and with the world about us is to go and see for ourselves. But we can't just go through the motions of checking it out. We have to go with expectation in our spirit and hope in our heart."       Return to top

April 2010

March 2010 "More on the pastor's sabbatical leave"

February 2010 "My Sabbatical leave"

January 2010 "2010—a year of challenge and change"

As the New Year breaks upon us, always, there is an excitement in the air. As the wisdom of Ecclesiastes reminds us, For everything there is a season, a time for everything under the sun. For us here at Miami Lakes Congregational, the season that is upon us is a season of challenge and change. CHANGE, because our new building (for The Growing Place expansion) will soon be complete and in no time, we will be registering three and four-year-olds for the school year which commences in August.

December 2009 The expectation of Christmas.

Recently in our church, we’ve been talking about living towards expectation. In our Stewardship drive, we emphasized the need to give towards expectation. Faith is about our hopes and expectations. It’s about the promises of tomorrow and the possibilities on the horizon.

What is so powerful about our Christian story is the way it looks towards the future. Indeed, a question for us at Christmas is how do we embrace the future? Everyday, we have to choose; and it makes all the difference.

November 2009 Stewardship – 2010.

Our Stewardship Committee is promoting a new idea this year called Shared Generosity, where we gather together in Fellowship Hall (for the concluding part of our worship on November 8th, Stewardship Sunday) and present our pledge cards—together—as a symbol of sharing the costs and the joys of Christian discipleship.

October 2009 Sabbatical leave, revisited.

As many of you by now know, I will be taking a four-month While on Sabbatical leave, I will have restful time to reflect and do research on the unique demographic that is Miami Lakes. The emergence of Hispanic Protestants is in many ways a recent emergent in American life. Yet, their numbers are mounting every year. In the years ahead, and particularly around my leave-experience, I invite you to reflect as well and to join me in envisioning the unfolding of our future in the years ahead.

September 2009 What’s Living the Questions all about?

August 2009 "Evangelism"

As we continue to grow our church, through new programs and new ideas, consider the following approach to drawing new people to our church: The KEY: invitational evangelism. Although the idea of invitational evangelism is not new, it remains the best way for most churches to grow their congregations. First, a word on evangelism. It is amazing how this word continues to be a stumbling block for many churches. Instantly, images of reluctant people knocking on doors or handing out leaflets at the mall come to mind.

Evangelism is simply a sharing of our commitment and excitement about the gospel, about what God has done for us in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Our excitement may be in the form of deeds of charity and support for the needy and the downtrodden.

July 2009 Who are we and how do people find our church?

Questions of commitment are always a concern that voluntary organizations like churches deal with. On the one hand, we don’t want to be demanding to the point where the joy is sucked out of church life. On the other hand, without committed leadership, how is our church going to embrace the second and third decades of the 21st century with a vital sense of promise and hope?

June 2009 "Ministry context-Hispanic Protestants"

For any church, the context of ministry is important. Here at Miami Lakes Congregational, we live out our Christian calling in a culture of Catholicism that is 70% Hispanic. Our challenge, therefore, is to find ways of growing our church in this largely Hispanic context.

As our church becomes increasingly Hispanic, we need to find ways of welcoming and accommodating these new groups to our growing church family. For us, this is an on-going process. For example, one of the most notable characteristics of Hispanic families is the strong emphasis on family. As a church, therefore, we have to find ways of adjusting and complementing the emphasis on these family happenings.

May 2009 "What is a sabbatical?"

As I prepare for my four-month sabbatical leave one year from now (May 17 – September 16th), I want to begin to prepare the congregation for this shared experience.

The term sabbatical comes from the biblical term Sabbath which refers to the seventh day in the creation story where God rested from all the work God had done. The fourth Commandment, cited above, is a reminder of God’s purposes for the Sabbath. As with God on the seventh day, the Sabbath is a time for rest and recovery. Historically, it was a weekly observance to nourish the body, mind, and soul.

April 2009 "Religion Talk"

Perhaps the most stunning commentary on Easter is the lives of Jesus’ followers after the resurrection. Simply put, their lives were different.

Their personal and collective identities were irreversibly changed. Peter, before the resurrection, in a compelling moment of truth, denied Jesus three times. However, after the Easter experience, there was no power under heaven that could hold back his commitment. Who we are as people of faith.

Part of the power of Easter is that it reminds us, every year, of who we are as people of faith. Easter people are people of love. Simon son of John, do you love me?

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March 2009 "Taking out our personal journey"

Talking out our personal journey. Always, Lent is a journey; it’s a journey inward where we seek to get in touch with the deeper murmurings in our spirit. At times, it can be a painful journey, one that evokes deep ache and sadness. But the journey can also be a time of immense renewal and reassurance.

Whatever our journey, it’s healing to be able to talk about it with others. Not with just anyone, of course, but with those special people whom we sense can take it in and really hear our words.

February 2009 "The day the heavens rejoiced"

From the civil rights movement of the sixties,
spearheaded by Martin Luther King, Jr. and
symbolized in his famous I have a dream
speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in
August of 1963, gradually, incrementally,
we’ve been inching forward … making progress
… seeking, however haltingly, to redeem
ourselves of this wrenching and insidious
wrong.

January 2009 "For everything there is a season"

What our church is about is community. All the time, we are building up our community of faith. The building of community is what churches are about. Just as in the prologue to John’s gospel (above), Christian community, at its best, is like a light in the world. It is a light of hope and promise, a beacon of mercy and compassion.

Again, at its best, it is a light that no darkness can overcome.

In the year ahead, let us all reflect on what we can do—both personally and as families—to help strengthen and deepen our community. This is another form of our Stewardship, or our caring for God’s church.
there is a season.

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December 2008 "A silver lining"

However, there may be a silver lining in all of this because times of deprivation have a way of putting us in touch with what is really important in our lives: not the gifts we can no longer afford to buy for one another, but the opportunity to simply be in each other’s presence and to celebrate the gifts of family and friends.

Rather than buying things for each other, we can do things for one another and make things to share. My guess is that this Christmas will bring less spending and more special times with family and friends. In fact, because of this, this Christmas may well be one of our best Christmases in recent memory. There’s something about deprivation and having to count our pennies that is uplifting of the spirit.

November 2008 "America, behold your future!"

October 2008 "The bailout that is shaking our foundations"

Growing up, my parents spoke often of the Great Depression which millions of their generation lived through back in the late 1920’s and 1930’s. The recent financial crisis that has sounded across our land is our worst such crisis since those depression years.

September 2008 "Going for it"

Don’t sell out or conform too much to the world around us. All the time, the unfolding inertia of the world is towards mediocrity. When you try too hard or put forth too much effort, those around you feel diminished or pressured to keep up. Over time, they may even resent that you are going for it with such zeal and heart. The will of God does not nudge us towards mediocrity.

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July 2008 "Conversations about race Continued"

A sacred conversation on race, therefore, has this biblical understanding as its spiritual backdrop and context. For in the larger sense, racism is always a violation of the sacred. It is both a stain on the life force and a distortion of the divine purpose of our Creator God. In this sense, it is sin.

June 2008 "Conversations about race"

As Christians and as Americans, there’s an atonement theme here that presents an opportunity for us all to move to higher spiritual ground. At our best, none of us wants to live in a country where racism has any currency in our common national life.

However, as the demographics of election 2008 suggest and exit polls confirm, race remains an unresolved element in American life and culture. Still, on the positive side, it appears to be less of a hot-button issue than might have been anticipated.

At some point, any conversation on race has to deal with stereotypes. Try as we might, it’s hard not to stereotype on all sides. Fair or unfair, it’s the way we sort out our lives. From our personal experience—both direct and indirect—we assume certain behaviors from certain persons and groups.

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May 2008 "That we may all be one"
Clearly, from a biblical perspective, this is the will of our Creator God—that we find ways of coming together, ways of uncovering common ground so we can lift up the common good; that we find ways of bringing the red states and the blue states together, ways of creating occasions for conservatives and liberals to sit down and have adult conversations about things that matter.

April 2008 "Race Talk"
The black church, since its inception during the days of slavery, has historically been a place where black people (this was particularly important for the black male) could be free. Free to stand tall and lead; free to unpack deep-seeded pain, egregious injustice and dehumanization. Free, if only briefly, to be a man (or woman), a dignified human being

March 2008 "Belief is personal "
Always, there’s a healthy agnosticism in the best of our Christian faith. I say healthy because to doubt certain elements of the Christian story is human. If we take away the doubt completely, it’s no longer belief, but something more, like certitude or something that would need proof to achieve respected validity.

The resurrection accounts in the gospels are not facts; they’re about faith and a sense of warming from within in the human heart. Everywhere, there’s mystery and wonder. The empty tomb; the varying experiences of the disciples, like Peter and John in the above reading from John 20.

February 2008 "Lent and the vision of the suffering servant'
As we move into Lent now, on the way to holy week, with Easter on the horizon, it is a time for reflection. As is always the case in Lent, images of sacrifice fill our memory and imagination. The fact of Jesus’ suffering and death must, at some point, draw us in.

All the time in or church, we talk about the suffering/ sacrificial love of Jesus. The depths and meanings of this love define for us who Jesus was … as well as who he is for us moderns some two millennia later.

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January 2008 "It’s a new year; take the high road!'

Taking the high road (the spiritual high road, where the holiness of God’s presence pulsates with life and hope for all people) always makes things better in the long run. On the high road, pride and ego are subordinated to the larger good for all people, be it for family, community or the wider world.

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December 2007 "When light breaks forth like the dawn"
.... apparent acts of humility, even worship, are seen by God in the wider context of love and social awareness. It is our acts of love and compassion that make a difference in the world and that promote God’s purposes.

The light that no darkness can overcome is the light that shines from the very heart of our Creator/ Redeemer God.

November 2007 "Having a thankful spirit"
Always, there are two things God asks of us in all seasons: a humble spirit and a thankful heart. Humility and gratitude: always a good plan.

Sometimes having a thankful spirit takes a little effort on our part. Sometimes we have to slow ourselves down enough to look at the big picture of our lives. So much of our lives is attitude and perspective.

October 2007 "A time to be grieved"
In the context of our community, our nation, our world, is there ever such a time—a time to be grieved? Is there a time when current conditions, present-day injustices, evoke such stirring feelings of sadness and sorrow from within that we are, literally, grieved by it all?

September 2007 .... Prayer and spiritual growth

"When you pray, do you ever feel challenged about connecting with God?  Do you wonder on what level you are connecting? 

For me, prayer is a very human experience.  It is utterly vulnerable activity.  I’ve always been struck by the Apostle Paul’s words in verse 26 above: Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought.

With prayer, there is always the question of distance from God.  How to bridge the distance, how to find the right words??  Always, these challenges are before us.  When we view God as utterly awesome, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and on and on, we’re left with the sense that our words, no matter how eloquent and heart-felt, are to some extent always inadequate."

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August 2007 "Persistence and perseverance"

"Sometimes, the best we can do in life is to just keep after it. In other words, persist and
persevere. We never know when a breakthrough will occur. We never know when a new
awareness, a new disposition, or a new understanding and orientation will win the
moment.
In chess, sometimes the winning play comes only after serious and deep focus on the
options. It doesn’t come in a flash, but only on the wings of persistence and perseverance.
So much of our lives is like that. Like the man in the brief parable above, we have to
persist, not give up, and keep our purposes on the front burner."

June 2007 "The heart of the gospel"

"Certainly, for the Apostle Paul, at the heart of Christian faith is
the cross of Christ. Always, Paul has a real sense that Jesus really suffered and that the
truth of God, revealed in the Savior, is the truth of suffering love.

May 2007   " Will our children have faith ?"

" Although there are few references in the Bible to children and even fewer references to the challenge of parenting, still, we tend to assume in the Church that the Christian education of our children is a high priority for parents and families."

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