For 25 years, there's been an empty chair at the Thanksgiving table, my friend said (I'll call her Carol). Perhaps not literally. No one expected Carol's nephew to show up, so perhaps there wasn’t actually a place set, knowing it would stay empty, at the big dining table where the family would gather. But Peter's absence diminished those feasts. The chair he should have occupied was empty. No one would lovingly prepare that odd corn relish that, for years, Peter had said was his favorite. He was definitely missed. For the first few of those years, there was some story. He had to be … [Read more...] about The Uneasy Empty Chair
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Yes, but will we welcome them
Many of us have hailed the news, over past months, that President Obama has commuted the sentences of hundreds of federal prisoners, most of them incarcerated with draconian sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. President Obama has granted clemency at a rate far in excess of other recent presidents. This reflects, it seems, a growing bipartisan recognition that mandatory minimum sentences have not served us well. Great news, we might say. But will we welcome them? In other news, we are beginning to see the release of juvenile offenders whose mandatory life sentences were declared … [Read more...] about Yes, but will we welcome them
“Show Us the Church Is for Real”
On a hot July morning, we trudged across a blank courtyard and up unadorned cement steps to a stark upstairs room. Some thirty of us outsiders found seats in clumps, waiting, until eighteen men in blue streamed into the room, our hosts, residents there at the men’s state prison in Chillicothe, Ohio. They circulated among us as we stood to greet them, with handshakes and some (initially) tentative hugs. So began three days of truth-telling and vision-casting, wreathed by razor wire. What was the truth that we heard again and again, from these incarcerated men? The church has failed us. A … [Read more...] about “Show Us the Church Is for Real”
Holding On
On a recent Sunday I had the pleasure of holding a baby, for a good long time. She had been baptized that morning, surrounded by the well wishes and affirmations of dozens of new sisters and brothers. During the fellowship time, I saw an opportunity and seized it, and her, and held on against all comers for a good (and I mean good) half hour. It's a pleasure I have always been happy to claim, as pastor. I inherited this particular joy from my mother. I used to call her, after a Sunday morning in which a new parishioner had made his or her debut, and I'd say, "I got to hold a baby this … [Read more...] about Holding On
In the Event of a Mistake
A bell choir on a recent Sunday was running through its music before worship. I heard the director calling out measure numbers, a common help to keep the ringers together. She commented to me a few minutes later that they had a new member, a man who was a bit uneasy about this debut. She encouraged him by telling me, in his hearing, “I tell him, if he makes a mistake, just keep going!” It’s good advice for all of us who dare to offer music in worship. If we make a mistake, we keep going. Beyond worship music, it’s good advice for living. I have this conversation often with my sisters in … [Read more...] about In the Event of a Mistake
Breaking the Alabaster Jar
As a little girl I loved to examine the exquisite bottles on Grandma’s dresser. She would open one and let me smell its sweet perfume, or wipe a bit of its lotion on my arm. I remember smelling lilacs out of season, and rich aromas that couldn’t be named—except in the creativity of Avon, which made most of them. One perfume bottle was particularly intriguing: a delicate glass snail, with gilded head and antennae, filled with a luxuriant amber liquid. I picked it up one day and twisted that head away so that I could breathe in its aroma. Grandma turned just then and startled me with her … [Read more...] about Breaking the Alabaster Jar