Monthly Archives: November 2013

We won’t have a birthday cake.  Nor will we hand out gifts.  And yet.  [Don’t you love…and know…as in these blogs no less in life there’s always an and yet?]  Tomorrow is a very special day…for the church the first … Continue reading →

Wasn’t a good decision.  A decision with no anticipation that why didn’t I accept his offer?—years, make that decades later I whisper to myself. Year was 1970…into my second year as an associate pastor in Eugene, Oregon.  Gary Wiren, he … Continue reading →

I remember being alone on Thanksgiving.  Also remember my first plane ride.  And.  Remember my first time in a bar. Was 1958.  I had flown from San Francisco to Chicago to attend a meeting of the Youth Fellowship Cabinet of … Continue reading →

What a day…crisp, 32 degrees, nary a cloud, can see your breath.  Diane and I took Faith for a walk…well, truth pushing Faith took us for a walk.  She knows the cues…cookie means time to eat; walk sends her into … Continue reading →

This is too late, especially for clergy buddies and their congregations.  Has to do with money and stewardship and next year’s budget.  They’ve already done that, getting pledges for the new year. Yet.  The responses to the garbage blog, about … Continue reading →

I know more than a little about garbage dumps.  Not sure why, but as a child I remember two “particulars” about garbage dumps. First, my mother took me to my Grandmother Miller [my father’s mother].  She spoke little English.  What … Continue reading →

The link posted below took me back…with a smile, an experience that extols the why not’s of life.  Come back with me, circa in the ‘80’s—that’s the 1980’s for the cynics. I was into being a basketball coach…for my son … Continue reading →

When writing recently about losing my first salmon…and looking downstream that another boat reached to pick it up, a responder wrote, “Glad to see that in 1947 people were mean and uncooperative and only out for themselves then also.” Thought … Continue reading →

December 7.  Am sure what comes to your [and my] mind is Pearl Harbor.  A day of infamy.  For me, though, this December 7 will “happen” a different situation.  I will attend a wedding.  Not officiate, but attend. Yes, weddings … Continue reading →

I cannot imagine it.  Not even close.  Maybe you can.  Here’s the situation: attending a school with 22 in your class, your junior class.  And knowing probably 25% of them will leave school before their graduation in 2 years.  Knowing … Continue reading →