Friendship is one of the most powerful and overlooked forces in our lives, in our world and even in the Bible.

How do we foster an eco-system where we can flourish in the way of Jesus, where our lives become full of joy, meaning, hope in a way that changes the world around us?

Exploring Christ as the fractal shape of reality. A sermon preached at Valley Presbyterian on August 7, 2022

How do we live rooted and grounded in Christ in a world that wants to pull us apart with lesser identities? A sermon preached on August 14, 2022 at Valley Presbyterian Church.

Stop drawing with an image of God that makes you sad. Together, let’s color with an image of God that makes the world glad, using paintbrushes of justice and beauty and grace and love.

Living life undefended is the only conditions in which wisdom can be found and it is what we most fear. While I thought I would wear wisdom like a suit of armor that would prevent me from being hurt, it is wisdom that keeps me more like a child, with curiosity and vulnerability as my best tools.

I find it hard to be a writer in the digital frenzy of words. I’m not ready to make same day comments on today’s headlines. My best ideas brew in my head for years and become clear on their own clock. My favorite writers are the ones who write from well-worn paths and slow wisdom. I don’t like to spend a lot of time on social media and am suspicious of sound bites.

Whether it’s marriage or parenting, don’t trust anyone who says there is a formula. Just make it a beautiful mess of forgiveness, compassion and love.

Fully embracing those who have not been able to bring their full selves to church is healing for all of us. It is like finding members of your family that you didn’t know you were missing but without whom your family wasn’t complete.

What keeps me pliable is that I now understand that racism is built into all of us in this nation. It’s a source of corporate shame and culpability. But, there is no healing without seeing and without humility. If this is what critics mean by critical race theory, then I’m all for it. I don’t see a future without it.

I have always been passionate about friendship. It’s a running joke that I have multiple best friends. For me, witnessing and being witnessed is fuel for the journey of life. It is an endless source of growth, joy, and challenge.

I still am at my absolute happiest in a new city with nothing to do but explore. Budapest is where I became an adult. Instead of converting the world, it converted me to beauty, adventure and the possibilities of what happens when we walk out the door with an open heart.

My major in college was intercultural studies and psychology. I specialized in cross-cultural transition and in the cultures of Central and Southeastern Europe. I thought I was going to be a missionary for the rest of my life. For a variety of reasons I only stayed in Europe about 2.5 years before coming home. I got married, had babies and put to bed the part of myself that loved to travel and work internationally…

We keep boundaries around our identities, but we enter into the embrace of others — taking their perspective and personhood into ourselves. We also let go of the embrace and return to ourselves. However, with porous boundaries, we allow our selves to shift and change without losing who we are.

I will never grow longer limbs or change my shape or have a great metabolism. But I have begun to accept that the body I have been given is my earthly home. It is the place from which I love, pray, give and receive. It is what I have. And to reject it, be angry at it, or to cut it off from my consciousness is denying my capacity to love God and the world with all of who I am.

I have begun the practice of, “I don’t know.” Every time I say it, it is an act of vulnerability, and every time I am so grateful that I opened up to learn something or to consider a fresh perspective. My relationships deepen, my leadership sharpens, and my soul swells when I ask a question and admit what I don’t know. I’ve realized that no one grows up or lives in exactly the same world and each of us brings fresh knowledge and insight to conversations. Getting over what I “should” know and being curious about what others know is a lifelong practice for me.

The Mystery that is God does its work within us. When I think of the future, I often think about what God is going to do in spite of us, but Paul says we are a part of that future as we allow God’s power to do its work within us.

What does it take to participate in that kind of future?