a prophetic voice-

In the seventh year of the Presidency of Barak Obama, when Pat McCrory was governor was governor of North Carolina, and Larry Williams was mayor of Rural Hall, during the term of ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, the word of God came to Nazareth Lutheran Church in Rural Hall, NC.    This is the way Luke introduces John the Baptist to us…setting the imperial and political and religious scene. But- lest we miss it in the midst of all the pomp and circumstance- there is this significant fact: the word of God came to a nobody, a lone, strange, eccentric mystic and prophet in the wilderness, in a wild, harsh no-man’s land far from family and government and temple. There in that wild and threatening place, John heard a voice not his own…God coming, as God does, to one of God’s people, to one clearly outside the establishment of the day, to one who would not be expected to be the bearer of God's word...God speaking and John listening... clearly...

I have been walking through the valley with Sara for months now... or perhaps, I should say that I have been having the privilege of accompanying her on this final journey which we will all make at some time. And it is indeed a privilege, as together we walk toward a sunrise which only she will see, a new dawn for which I will have to wait a while longer. Together we talk and laugh and share silences in which the only agenda is to welcome the Holy Presence. Together we move slowly, slowly, inexorably slowly toward that final inevitable farewell...though we both hope and trust that it will be "till we meet again" rather than "goodbye". Lest you think this is all heaviness, this journey we are making together, I hasten to assure you that there has been and continues to be lots of laughter as we share our left-wing political views and dissect together the various candidates on the political stage. And I confess to more than a little sacrilegious...

Yesterday, I preached about the road to Emmaus story from a different perspective- that of hospitality. And even that, I came at in a way which is a bit out of the ordinary. My 92-year-old pastor friend, who is a member of the congregation which I serve, told me afterward that I had preached prophetically, a great compliment to me, for that means I was dis comforting the comfortable, which I see as my "job", just as much as comforting those in distress. My love and gratitude to Pastor Nancy Kraft, my friend and sister in ministry, for her courage and for the loving presence of her congregation, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, in our North Carolina Lutheran Synod. Today’s Gospel in Luke speaks about the extreme hospitality of Jesus… his willingness, his eagerness to FEED people, both physically and spiritually… without asking about their beliefs, their faith, their theology… simply welcoming, with arms open wide, and accepting, as he did with those two conf...

My life keeps re-shaping itself, as new opportunities present themselves, new doors open, new windows are flung open to let in unexpected light. My position as Chaplain at the Lutheran Home Winston-Salem is proving to be one of those. First steps were tentative at best, as I found myself asking myself over and over again what it meant to be ministering in such a place, where so many of the residents seem "out of reach" to the conventional, comfortable, safe ways of doing ministry. But slowly, gradually, Love has showed its beautiful face and I am learning to share that love with people who are becoming ever dearer to me as the days go by. One challenge has been a woman who is profoundly deaf...and each time I stopped by to see her, the experience was frustrating for both of us, as communication seemed impossible. Physically unable to write, she seems trapped in a world of silence, broken only by the moving mouths of those caring for her. Frustrated by my seeming inability t...