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
neighbors
Right Next Door connections
In October 2015 we hosted a conference focused on how churches and communities can better connect to people we have overlooked. That includes persons affected by incarceration, mental illness, sexual violence, domestic abuse, addiction, poverty and the like. Participants--and those who connect after that fact--are invited to continue the conversation. We've set up this page where you can comment and share what you're doing, how we can support you, what ideas you have and more. We'll be watching for your comments here! … [Read more...] about Right Next Door connections
Discovering Neighbors at the Fast Food Store
“This place has gotten @&#$-ing run down,” said a man in disgust, setting down a tray of paper-wrapped food at the table where his companion awaited him. He scowled and looked back over his shoulder toward the front of the store as he sat down opposite her. “This place” was the McDonald’s restaurant where I had stopped, mid-afternoon, for a bathroom break and a snack on my way home from preaching in northwest Iowa. I had noticed nothing unusual about the quality of this standard-looking location, as I hurried toward the back. I did notice that the registers were clogged by several … [Read more...] about Discovering Neighbors at the Fast Food Store
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
Farmer wave
I grew up with the farmer wave. It’s what you do when you cross paths with someone on a gravel road. It’s the barest flick of a finger or two. An acknowledgment. “I see you.” Out in the world, no one waves. Traveling to Washington DC last week, I was reminded of the hiddenness we share when we are many. In our profusion, each is a stranger. Why notice one another? Walk as if you’re alone, eyes down—and even better if your earbuds show. Ooze self-sufficiency, disconnectedness, disinterest. My country neighbors are no less self-reliant. Their outsized trucks won’t be cowed by any storm. … [Read more...] about Farmer wave