You have probably held a door open for a stranger on countless occasions. Most of the time you received a polite “thank you” or an appreciative head nod. What about those times when your kindness was ignored or the person grumbled something under their breath? That felt a little awkward, didn’t it? But it Read More...
Recently, one of my favorite writers, Newbery Medal-winning author Matt de la Peña, published an op-ed in Time, “Why We Shouldn’t Shield Children From Darkness.” He related an experience where his daughter saw his wife cry. “I couldn’t help thinking,” he wrote, “a fraction of her innocence had been lost that day.
The life and legacy of Rev. Billy Graham has been on my mind since his death. When anyone dies it is natural to pause and reflect on his or her life and what we learn from their triumphs and missteps. In Rev. Graham’s case, his ministry is so interwoven with history that it beckons us to look back on our collective journey during his 99 years.
It is no coincidence that doves wake me each morning with their soft cooing right outside our bedroom window. They gather to feast on a generous supply of bird seed in the feeder at our house. It is part of the “arrangement” we have had for years. They coo and get fed and Read More...
Can you imagine having 200 guests in our sanctuary in sub-freezing weather and us not having heat in our building? Can you imagine 200 guests staying for two hours with coats, hats, and gloves on?
When did I become “old”? That’s not a punchline, it’s a serious question. Last weekend our congregation helped host Culver-Stockton College students on their “Know Thy Selfie” retreat. As a church we arranged for a service opportunity at Grace United Community Ministries, one of our Northeast neighborhood partners.
The utility crews were peering into this hole the other day as I was walking through our parking lot. I asked if I could look, too, and they graciously agreed. I casually mentioned that it reminded me of the holes we dug for the foundation of a community center on our most recent mission in Nicaragua.
I vividly recall the first time I saw something called a “Macintosh,” a product of an unknown start-up Apple Computer. This little ivory-colored box was in a friend’s basement office and was only connected to the electrical outlet. As we huddled around its tiny black and white screen, it came to life with a little smiley face. Something in my very being sensed that we were peering into a window on the future. We were.
At first glance, two books could not seem more different. Who Counts? is a numbers book for children ages 3-8 based on scripture stories. I pretty much “get” that one. The other is Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Everything I know about astrophysics I learned from “The Jetsons.”
This past month we held a family celebration at Tall Oaks Conference Center, our region’s camp in Linwood, Kansas. The eldest of our four generations had been volunteers at Tall Oaks long years ago and they love to return to its familiar beauty and relive the memory of friendships that the camp evokes.
Joe: “Did you know I have a Girl Scout award?” Girl Scout: “Whaaat?” (complete with a side glance and a little head shake) Joe: “Because I helped start two Girl Scout troops.” Girl Scout: “Reeeealy?” (with another doubting head shake) It was an amusing little exchange that began last Sunday as I Read More...
“In our most relaxed moments, we sit with our friends and fantasize about how we would like things to be—but we immediately retreat from the excitement such visions generate,” observes Rabbi Michael Lerner, “because we ‘know’ that they are impossible, that no one would ever join us in doing what needs to Read More...
By Rev. Joe Walker I have one pair of “I Heart KC – Red and Yellow” socks from our very own local entrepreneurs, SOCK101. Other than that, all my socks are black and cotton. Oh, and boring. But they are clean and when they wear out I recycle the cotton and buy Read More...
You see the walker in this photo? You made it possible for this woman to have that walker. We met this woman during the first of our two Nicaragua missions this year, the February adult trip. She lived in a remote cluster of houses alongside the dirt road that we traveled Read More...
By Rev. Joe Walker, Minister of Congregational Care “It’s hard to put into words how much those visits helped my mother. You know how the time can drag. My mother would count the hours until the next pain medication. Jacqueline helped distract her from the pain. Jacqueline was a real gift Read More...
