A couple of weeks ago I posted a cartoon and a practice invitation for you to think through the ways we jump to conclusions about people, and what would happen if we reframed our perspectives. Here's the cartoon that prompted that post: I was picturing you telling stories like this one of mine, about the time I rounded a corner in an office building, late at night, thinking I was alone, and found myself nose-to-nose with a woman I didn't expect to be there. She was short, and had dark, wild hair, and she didn't expect me, either. I was so startled that I grabbed her shoulders and … [Read more...] about The “Giant, Hideous Insects” All Around Us
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Lives That Count
We'll return to last week's "Reframing" focus and Practicing Foolishness prompt next week. It's not too late to share your responses! Do you find your eyes glazing over yet when the COVID-19 case counts get announced? Every day a bunch of numbers get shared by news conference and online sources, with dozens of shares on social media and e-mail. This many new infections. This many hospitalized. This many who have died in the last twenty-four hours. The numbers for our state, and for the nation as a whole, and maybe some specific hotspots where the numbers deserve some special … [Read more...] about Lives That Count
Loving One Another
It's Holy Week and so Jesus says, again, during his last supper with his disciples: "love one another" (John 13.34). I think he's saying it to us, too, looking us straight in the eye: "Love one another, now. I mean it." We might say, "But Jesus, have you ever been locked in with your family for weeks at a time, with nowhere to go, with spotty Wifi, with no new Saturday Night Live, with people dying and jobs ending and no end in sight?" Jesus doesn't say "Love one another when they're not on your last nerve." He tells us to love "as I have loved you," Drat. It's like those … [Read more...] about Loving One Another
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
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
Loving that Random Stranger
At some point a random stranger is going to walk into our church. Will we be able to get past our own “stuff” to meet them as they are, and let them know we’re glad they’re there? Or we’ll bump into someone at the end of their rope, or on top of the world, and we’ll have a decision to make about whether and how to share a little bit of our day with them. Will we? Those are the questions behind my posts over the last two weeks—my invitation for you to practice noticing how you react to random people that you meet, and last week’s reflection on my own experiences and what you told me about … [Read more...] about Loving that Random Stranger