(I’m thinking about presence and Jesus). Jesus went to the wedding. Cana was 16 miles, a day’s walk, from Capernaum. Turning water into wine has become a humorous reference. We often preach (or laugh) about the miraculous sign, but there’s a story wrapped around the wine. The story is about Jesus going to a family […]

God. It’s been a hard week. I feel like we say that to you a lot, these days. We used to be able to predict what would happen in a week. Then we resigned ourselves to 2020 Bingo cards of disaster and disruption. “Didn’t see that coming,” we say.“I thought it couldn’t get worse, and then it did,” we say. And […]

“God has the first word.” I wish I could remember who said that simple statement. When the gospel of John starts, it starts with, “In the beginning was the Word.” So that may be where that simple statement comes from. When we are talking about Jesus being present with people, it’s not that we are […]

We talk about presence all the time when we are talking about how to offer support to people who are grieving. Early in my chaplaincy journey, I wrote, “Intentional non-invasive presence” on my clipboard to remind me of what do to, what to be. As part of a research project that will be out soon, […]

Rich Dixon asks some thoughtful questions: +++ Our stop in Memphis, entering the last third of Rich’s Ride, featured hospitality and questions. Our hosts, Dick Foth’s cousin Dudley Boyd and his wife Melissa, decided we needed some pampering after six weeks on the road. They arranged a weekend at the historic, luxurious Peabody Hotel. (Check […]