Category: pastoal care
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Lord of the Bowel Movement
Yesterday was monumental. I prayed with a 92 year-old-woman who had a bowel movement in her bed, specifically a poop, immediately after I prayed for her. I didn’t know it right away. A nurse who came into the room shortly after me, reported back and thanked me. Apparently, they had been waiting for the patient…
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When the Game Slows Down
My orientation into chaplaincy has begun. Who knew orientation could feel so disorienting? While inundated with information, it is amazing how many golden nuggets of truth and wisdom I have received in a weeks time. One statement I am fixated on, even though I have not yet visited a single patient is this: “The game…
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A Time Before Certainty
Matthew 13:1-32 I worked on an organic farm for 4 seasons. It’s interesting how many factors go into having a fruitful crop: the seed, the soil, the sun, the water, the bugs. Some of these can be controlled. We can add water, we can spray pesticides (technically not in organic farming). Much of farming maintains…
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Saint Listener and Hearing Different
If you are looking for a good cry, I would suggest seeing “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” the new Mr. Rogers documentary. If you’ve been wanting to feel like you’re endeavor to love and to be a compassionate human being falls far short of perfection, I’d also suggest watching the movie. What I found most…
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The Gospel of Love: Fill the World with Stories
John 21: 15-25 – Word Feed If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. The Gospel of John ends with the author telling us that Jesus did too many good things to contain in writing. Jesus, likewise,…
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The Charleston Chapter: Chaplaincy
As of this writing, I am 50 days away from moving to Charleston, South Carolina. If that is news to you, I’m sorry I did not tell you. I’m moving, to start a chaplaincy residency, which will be my first season of full-time ministry, God-willing. I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I have a decent…
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The Finishing Gospel: Death of the Saves Man
John 19:16-42 – Are We Living or Dying? Yesterday, I taught my second to last class on the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). We discussed the crucifixion and the resurrection. What is interesting to me about John’s gospel is the things he notes about Jesus during the crucifixion. Jesus is deeply concerned for his mother.…
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The Praying Gospel: Are you Curious?
John 17 – We are all 20-year old gypsy train wrecks We made it this far. The last large exposition from Jesus in the Gospel of John is one long prayer. It is a prayer for glorification, a prayer for the disciples, and a prayer for contagious joy and complete unity among all who will…
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Whirlwind Emprise
I usually like to pick a word for myself that I hope will describe each new year. My 2017 word was gentleness. I picked this word because I knew my goal for the year was to cease from striving, to stop grasping, to accept my smallness in the world and to be considerably less frustrated…
The Reconstructed 