The World's Okayest Pastor

Another mass shooting, this time in Las Vegas. A man shoots people attending an outdoor concert, over 200 wounded, over 50 dead. And I’m tired of praying about these events. Sounds odd coming from a pastor doesn’t it? But that’s where I am with all of the massive gun violence problem in America today. I am tired of having to pray for the victims, their families, and all of the responders and medical professionals who are effected with each of these shootings. I’m tired of having to pray with and offer support to individuals, for whom these events are triggers and others who are becoming more and more fearful of society. The reality is, I won’t stop praying about these situations and the laundry list of other issues and topics on my list. But what I really want to see and experience in America is some real movement to address these problems. I want to see America do things that are proven to help reduce gun violence. I want to see America make policies that increase access to suppor...

  A pastor is first and foremost human. We generally love to walk with people on their journeys; births, relationships, baptisms, illnesses, deaths. But just as these events happen in non-church situations they happen in the life of your pastor. They may happen directly to us, it may be to "our people" - friends, family, those who support/love/care for us.     Church members/parishioners try to be there for us. Some of them are really good about being there for their pastors. Sometimes they really get things and know when we need a break/to cry/to laugh/to go home/etc. But at the end of the day, the reality is that pastors rarely can be that vulnerable with their church members. Sometimes its considered a boundaries violation to share their personal life with their church members. Other times a pastor has to be concerned about if sharing any personal information will come back later to be used against them. I know this sounds bad and it's not something I believe that ch...

Congratulations Class of 2015 and also to your families.  You've  made it to the finish line of high school. Next week you will receive your diplomas and will be officially adults by all standards. You’ll get the speeches that include hearing “The Giving Tree” and other stories to inspire you as you go about what the future holds for you. And while I could use this time to read you one of those inspirational stories, I’m not.           Instead I’m going to boil it all down for you. Our hopes, dreams and prayers for you all are really this; that you all will be decent human beings in all that you say, do and be. That  doesn't  seem to be that big of a task. But when we look back at scripture, the accounts of people trying to live a life that is faithful and aligns with God’s purpose for creating us, we see that it’s harder then we think. Ecclesiastes reminds us that there are times for everything. You will be c...

If you were an intern when I was a resident chaplain then you know my simple prayer. It's Really!?!?! I believe that sums up most prayers that come from the heart and it suits many times of crisis and uncertainty. I find that I'm praying that almost constantly daily. From the really you just did/said that with my job to really with what's going on in the world. It's a fitting prayer for many times and places. It's an honest prayer because I know that I don't understand everything that's going on in this world or my life. It can be uttered when one crys, screamed hen angry, laughingly spoken or said in times of thanks and awe that you made it. I get that there's a thought that you should be fairly formal in your prayers. Many people have sold many books trying to teach the art of prayer. While I firmly believe that those books and forms are great for times of formal corporate prayer - when I pray personally I don't really care if I hit a certain ...

With the bombings at the Boston Marathon today there's still a sense of shock that lingers. That really happened today to a bunch of people running and those watching? It did. We don't know why? No - we don't. It's at times like these when people ask the tough questions of why? Why us? Why did it happen? Why did God/G-d/Allah/Higher Being let this happen? As a pastor I get looked to for answers in times like these and my answer is "I don't know." It's simple and honest. I have no idea how someone or a group of people would think it's okay for whatever reason to kill and hurt so many people. I have no idea what brings about so much hate and anger. Now to the harder why question as a pastor - why did God/G-d/Allah/Higher Being let this happen? I don't believe that God takes any delight in times like these. I don't believe that God wants any part of creation to do these things. I believe in a God that s so big that yes God could stop...

12/14/12  - another horrible day. A 20 year old man walks into an elementary school and opens fire. Young children and teachers killed before the young man takes his own life. American TV rushes to cover the story - to get the first break in the story, to show the first pictures of people weeping. At the same time around the world a man walks into a school in China stabs 22 young children. A small blurb is put out in America. This leads to ask the question - how narrow minded are we in America that we can only focus on stuff in our own culture. Can't both groups mourn together? Can't we pray for both groups together? Can't we offer prayer vigils for both? I sometimes want to tell people who say that they don't understand why America isn't loved around the world that these are part of the reason why. We think the whole planet revolves around us. We think God has only favored America and we teach that even if we don't realize it when we say the phrase "God Bl...

Today is the day after "the day" in American politics. We've voted and most of those votes have been counted. If you hadn't noticed I fell silent for some time - Facebook statuses became fewer and more far between and I haven't blogged in weeks. Why - because I felt that I couldn't be responsible for putting out any other message at a time when there were so many messages being shoved down our throats as a society. Whatever side you align yourself with, I think we can agree that we were targeted by ads, status updates, news feeds and conversations. It made my brain turn to mush. It made my head and more importantly my heart hurt. I know we are a broken world. My profession I'm trained in is based on that there is need for healing in this world. However, I felt that we, American society, have gone to a new low. No one truly won in this mess of a political system. I admit we need some form of government and I'm thankful I have the freedom I do have. Howe...