Have you noticed the stress of living in close confinement during this time when we're all well advised to stay at home? It's not easy, I suspect, for any of us, but for some it will be a matter of life and death and injury and lasting scars. So I'm posting today a reflection I wrote for future posting in the blog of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (COSROW) of the United Methodist Church. I hope we all might be praying for adults and children who are experiencing violence in their homes in this challenging and uncertain season. You can learn more about how to respond to … [Read more...] about Matter-of-Fact Violence Against Women
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Connecting across Generations
Last week in this space I asked you to try this: Take out a piece of paper, or hit the “comment” button on this post, or open up an e-mail to me at FoolishChurch@gmail.com and send me 3 ways you could initiate a conversation with a person who’s 20 years younger than you. OR, for those of you who are under 40: 3 ways someone 20 years older than you could initiate a conversation with you. By “initiate a conversation,” I mean a good one. I mean a conversation you’d both want to be in. I mean a conversation, where your first words might lead to a … [Read more...] about Connecting across Generations
Cross Generations (and the Invitation for March)
The promise of the church has always included connection across generations, people of all ages getting connected and practicing relationship and genuine love with one another. I can testify to the truth of that happening across the decades of my life. It has always been one of my favorite things about church. Trouble is, it's barely true anymore. It is no surprise to most of us church folk that our churches are aging, and we aren't connecting well with people of younger generations. (Here's one among a multitude of articles on this phenomenon.) I see it in person among the many dozens … [Read more...] about Cross Generations (and the Invitation for March)
Learning from Dolly
Though I'm not a country music fan, I've been drawn into the excellent podcast called Dolly Parton's America. It's a fascinating glimpse into the life and work of this womanwho is an icon of music and screen, with fervent fans that cross generational, socioeconomic and political divides. Forbes called it the best podcast of 2019. Last night I listened to the fifth episode, "Dollitics," which explores the way Parton navigates--or, often, ducks--political issues and questions in a way that keeps her connected to a broad range of people. Watch that dynamic in this clip from the 2017 Emmys, … [Read more...] about Learning from Dolly
Why Foolish
One day, a forgetful friend referred to my book as “Silly Church.” It was an instructive blunder. It got me thinking about the questions the actual name—Foolish Church—might raise. Does it mean “silly”? (“C’mon, church! Let’s pull out our kazoos!”)Does it mean “messy,” as in paints and scissors? (There actually is a Messy Church movement that includes those things; check it out.) Does it mean “funny,” as in The-Marvelous-Mrs.-Maisel-in-the-pulpit?It could mean uninformed or misguided. Ridiculous. Goofy? Ugh! If you go down this path very far, you might ask what kind of a fool would write … [Read more...] about Why Foolish
A C&E Connection Primer
As Christmas Eve rushes toward us, it's a good time to brush off our collective plans and skills for an opportunity that will be literally within arm's reach: Making connections with the C&E folks who will sit down the row from us. C&E, as in "Christmas and Easter church-goers," used here as a helpful description and without judgment. Some of my best friends--and certainly some of my blog readers--would describe themselves as C&E-ers! Since connection--relationship--is at the core of the (desirable) foolishness I'm always talking about, Christmas Eve seems like a reasonable … [Read more...] about A C&E Connection Primer