When I wrote this blog last fall, we thought the worse of the pandemic was behind us and we’d just elected a new President of the United States. A year later we’re still in pandemic mode, with those vaccinated at a much lower risk of dying from COVID-19. It saddens me that we can’t care enough about the health of those who cannot get vaccinated to get the shot if we can. Getting the shot […]
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Thanksgiving 400
Thanksgiving will soon be upon us again. This one is the 400th anniversary of the first feast between the Pokanoket people and the newly arrived English settlers. The version of this encounter we’ve taught school children for generations is a bit truncated and lopsided, but there really was a three-day feast in Plymouth, MA back in the fall of 1621. To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the event, the Sowams Heritage Organization is hosting a […]
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Dance to the Music
It’s not every week one gets to observe the General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation dancing with the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA to the music of a live mariachi band. Such was my good fortune Tuesday evening. The event was our annual Theological Conference, held this year in Austin, Texas. The venue was the restaurant next door to the conference center. The occasion was the annual “thank you” dinner hosted by the Lutheran […]
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Separation of Church and State
Let every person subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. (Romans 13:1) As we inaugurate the 45th President of the United States, I’ve been thinking about our concept of separation of church and state. Sometimes I hear this interpreted to mean we are to be free FROM religion, which to my thinking was not the original intent. Sometimes we interpret […]
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Let there be peace
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. -Psalm 85:10 The spring of 1970 was a tense time on Ohio college campuses. I was two years post-graduation from Bowling Green State University that spring and working in the news service office there. From our 8th floor offices we could see the action below on the open quad of the campus. “Oh my God, is he carrying a gun!?” one of my colleagues […]
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