The World's Okayist Pastor

Next week is the yearly main fundraiser where I work. It's a yearly event that's been going on for a couple of years. At the beginning of the month the group in charge of planning met again to go over details. Plans were made, volunteers gathers and things were agreed upon. This past Sunday, 2 people (1 who was at this meeting and 1 who wasn't) decided to undo everything that was agreed upon. When I remind these folks that things were already decided upon by a group and people had a plan, they pretty much decided that they didn't care and were going ahead with their plans. This has become a fundraiser that has cost more than it's brought in because of these types of issues. They run off people, they're not welcoming and they can't make a commitment to follow a plan and micro-manage everything. I just have to believe that things don't need to be this complicated. I believe so often folks feel the need to try to gain some sense of control and power, that

Yesterday Flight MH 17 was shot down over Ukraine. I am saddened and heart sick that this is the level the world needs to go to in order to gain some fleeting feeling of control. I have, am and will continue to pray for those who died and are affected by this tragic event. But what makes me concerned is that from the moment that word hit "the wire" that there was a plane crash, the media was "breaking into" programs to broadcast images and tweets from Twitter about what may or may not have happened. It's not that I'm worried about the news bulletin that the crash happened. I'm most concerned that before any one knew what had happened speculation was being flung around as news. I'm concerned that we had to spend hours looking at the broadcast of black smoke. Folks died, people are mourning - how is this honoring those lives? How is this responsible reporting? A popular response to these concerns is "well turn off the TV." Guess what, I d

Today I sat with a family who's matriarch died in hospice care. As the family was gathered, I asked some questions about the matriarch's and the family's wishes about the memorial service. As I sat and attempted to work with this family I started to come up with a list of helpful things I think folks should consider before they get to this stage. I offer these as suggestions and not requirements. But having been a hospital chaplain and now a congregational pastor I'd recommend folks to look at these things. Grief touches people in different ways. It can bring out and the best and the worst - and I've literally seen fist fights break out. Although no amount of preparation takes away grief, it can help folks in the grieving process and make grief lessen. 1) Advance Directives/Living Wills/Medical Decisions. I have one, have for several years. These are legal documents you can have made that allow you to make decisions about how you wanted to be treated by medical pr