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Earlier this week, just after rushing to take photos of my kids on their first day of school, I walked through our neighborhood seeing other families doing the same thing. Kids stood on front porches or on the school’s front lawn with big smiles, ner…
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For every meeting and gathering in the main building of the church, the route from my office takes me through the halls of the preschool, often multiple times a day. When I first started as the new pastoral resident in January, the corridor was alive…
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I have a confession; and I hope I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. I don’t like musicals. Like, musical theater. I like plays; I like music…I don’t like musicals. This hasn’t always been true, but for whatever reason, it has become true. My wife an…
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If you ever find yourself driving northeast outside of Tucson, Arizona, you may happen upon Biosphere 2, owned and operated by the University of Arizona. Inside this large campus of glass domes is essentially a mini-Earth. Whole ecosystems exist in w…
For many people, everything about these last days of July has screamed “vacation!” It may be the welcome break from a long slog at work. It may be a deep desire to escape the vagaries of a Midwest summer. It may be the fulfillment of a long-planned a…
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The abundance of rain has made the yards in my neighborhood lush and verdant. Tomatoes overflow their cages. Coneflowers burst with their bright pink in every direction. Hydrangeas have grown to be as big as bowling balls. On my daily dog walks, I’ve…
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Nearly 30 years ago, a German artist named Hans Hemmert came up with a new concept for a performance art piece. Hemmert wanted to find a way to visually represent the power of seeing others in a different perspective and the significance of what it m…
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“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age….
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I can be a sucker for a good parade. I remember community celebrations when I was growing up and I would get excited for the parade. Even as an adult, there is so much joy shown as people gather to celebrate. I love that a community can have pride…
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So, what do we do about all the violence in the Bible? I’ve heard this question countless times. And rarely do I have a helpful answer. Afterall, scripture is the inspired Word of God. It’s supposed to (among other things) guide us toward deeper…
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It had been 20 years since the home renovation project tweaked a shoulder. The man with the shoulder–let’s call him “Jim”–noticed the occasional twinge, but never really paid much attention to it. Normal activities were affected, to be sure, as flexi…
While on a walk the other day, I learned of a concept in economics that fascinated me. It also gives a name to something that has plagued almost all of us. The concept is called “sludge.” The purpose of sludge is to put so many obstacles in front o…