Some years ago I had some time to take my camera and wander around the community of Denpasar on the island of Bali. As I walked along the shore, I spied the four girls in the photograph I’ve shared as they sat in the sea breeze, chatting and laughing, and evidently enjoying each other’s company […]
Would you like to bring “water” into this current, socially distanced desert we live in? Well, let me tell you about this picture. Some years ago I traveled to China with a medical team from Virginia. We had been invited by the Amity Foundation, the social development arm of the China Christian Council, to tour […]
Here at the UAB Support Team Network, we’ve begun a new lunch series. It’s called “Community is Medicine.” Isn’t that cool?! Now, you’re not only being invited to read these columns but you can come and get something tasty to eat, hobnob with others who feel called to make a difference in their community, and […]
Way back in the summer of 1992, I went to serve as the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Winchester, Virginia. That’s when I met the family of Butch and Eva Gates. The first day in my office, Eva called me and asked me to officiate at a marriage vow renewal service that […]
A couple of weeks ago, Corey Agricola and Jeff Woods, two of our chaplains, traveled to Gadsden, Alabama and with the able assistance of Elder Juan Tinillo, established a Support Team at Ebenezer Seventh Day Adventist Church. Corey and Jeff needed Elder Tinillo because the entire team speaks Spanish and Juan did a great job […]
“Separation is an Illusion” All the Christian spiritual masters say this: in God’s world, we’re all connected. Interestingly, Buddhists and quantum physicists say it, too, along with Hindu gurus and Muslim Sufis. Separation is an illusion. This statement still startles me. The fact is, I like to think that I’m separate. I like to hold […]
When the phone rang on a February morning in 1989, I thought I had an idea of who’d be calling me. I was the pastor of a small town Kentucky church and church members called me about almost anything at almost anytime. I received this particular call sitting in the pastor’s study while working on […]
Last week, I had to be out of town at a conference and couldn’t be present to talk about how Pastoral Care fits in with our new Integrative Medicine Clinic. This is the video I did so I could be there at least via technology. It’ll serve as this week’s blog post! Here it is!
I saw petroglyphs in New Mexico last week. “Petroglyph” means “rock writing” and refers to art carved in volcanic stones lying about the desert hills just west of Albuquerque. According to the scientists who’ve studied the petroglyphs, Native Americans from the Pueblo nation produced those markings during a few centuries before and after 800, c.e. […]
I’m in Albuquerque, New Mexico this week at the Center for Action and Contemplation focusing on going deeper with the tradition of Centering Prayer and Contemplation. So, in light of the fact that I’m away, I thought I’d share something different. Here’s a poem which I hope yields some inspiration. I’ve Never Felt the Deck […]
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