‘Tis the season for angels, angels, angels! We sing songs about angels, read stories about angels, we make angels in the snow, and of course, we put angel images everywhere. On cookies, in frames, frozen in sculpture, molded in chocolate, and then we even impale them on decorated trees.
In last Sunday’s sermon I “outed” myself as a mystic. Clearly not a FAMOUS mystic, but I do have mystical tendencies, value the teachings of Christian mystics (in particular) and I have embraced a number of spiritual practices that are often labeled “good for mystics”. My journey with mysticism began when I was introduced to the great medieval Christian mystic Hildegard…
Justice is what love looks like in public – Dr. Cornel West There is an old story told about a village on a river that I first heard from a nun friend, but it seems to be so old (and pervasive) that I could not find an origin. If anyone can name the source, I’ve got a lollypop with your name on…
In honor of National Coming Out Day (NCOD), here’s a portion of a chapter from my doctoral thesis, Bringing the Refugees Home: Faith Formation for the Dechurched. This chapter chronicles some of my own history with HIV/AIDS and my participation in creating the very first National Coming Out Day back in 1988. For my friends who do not identify as LGBTQQI or…
If you have read any of the posts on my personal blog, you will at once notice that I have written a number of posts on practice. Spiritual practice, musical practice, ethical practice, best practice: practice, practice, practice! It certainly seems obvious that a longtime musician is committed to practice, but there is a deeper historical and theological component to my fascination…