I listened to an interview with author and professor, George Saunders. In the interview he shared about the time he went incognito in a homeless shelter in Fresno, California. There he met a wise older man from Guatemala who kept saying “Everything is always keep changing.” Professor Saunders says that truer words Read More...
“Monkey in the Middle” pierced the subtle rhythm of the ocean lapping at the shore. Squeals and dives and splashes erupted as my young adult son taught his nieces and nephews his favorite childhood game.
I thought she had fallen. I couldn’t see her torso or her face. She had lurched over the side of the electric cart/scooter. But as I got closer I realized her eyes were open and her hands were moving
“Look, I found a huge one, this one will be mine... oh look at this little one here, this can be for my little sister.” This was the running monologue of my 5-year-old grandson during our recent blackberry picking adventure. We learned to bypass the red ones which are too tart and Read More...
“Everything looks like a failure in the middle. Everyone loves inspiring beginnings and happy endings; it is just the middles that involve hard work.” - Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business Review 2009 Back in March, we thought we needed to hunker down for a few weeks or maybe even a few months Read More...
The Fourth of July was spent one of two place for the first 25 years of my life: in the swimming pool in my Aunt Millie’s back yard in Dallas or at the Faught Farm where dozens of kids spent the day in team olympics that began with volleyball and culminated with Read More...
What to do? Many of you have asked me in the last several weeks, “So what are we going to do?” What I hear in your question is that you feel moved by God to create a different kind of world, where all people, regardless of skin color, experience dignity, justice, freedom Read More...
I was taught that there were five senses: taste, touch, sight, smell, sound. All ways of knowing the world around us, of taking in the beauty of a hibiscus blossom or the sumptuousness of the first summer tomato. Something resonates in the heart when we hear a loved one’s voice on the other end of the telephone. Our senses do not just make us safe. They seem like a passageway to the soul.
A year ago, I visited for the first time in my life, the place where Jesus likely hung on a cross to die. We sat in lush green garden with sweet smelling flowers and looked out a dusty red earthen hillside on the edge of a rugged curved road. We sat in Read More...
It has been a heavy week. After spending 13 weeks worried about a pandemic, we added a worry about the fabric of our community. Would the fibers hold or fray? It would be easy to give in to despair. Perhaps like you, I began to relive moments of my own narrative where Read More...
As our community is beginning to lift some of the restrictions on public gatherings I want to share with you an update on our plans as a church community. I have been in conversation with other area faith leaders, congregations of our size across the country, our church board and staff. We Read More...
How would you finish that sentence? Please email me or text me (816-381-9253) with your completion to that sentence. Here are a few from where I sit... Now more than ever, I am enjoying sitting down to dinner with my husband every night and savoring a home cooked meal. Now more than Read More...
Each of us has our own perspective on Mother’s Day. You may reflect on the experience of your own mother or your journey of being a mother. The two characteristics I celebrate most on Mother’s Day are tender nurture and tenacious strength. Growing up I felt my Mom’s tender nurture through lovingly Read More...
As the days drag on, the earth bursts forth in beauty. I find my heart ricocheting between savoring the now and worrying about the future. So I thought today we could sit back and notice the signs of hope around us and within us. Volunteerism is up. Applications to volunteer in New Read More...
This Sunday will be our seventh Sunday to meet for worship via live stream rather than in person. We began on Sunday, March 15. Three days prior to that a nurse friend told me, “Churches probably need to take a few weeks off and then come back boldly with a huge grand Read More...
