Blog Article Archives

There was a time in my life when I was no friend of a bee. Today, due to the generosity of a thoughtful church member, I am a keeper of bees. Each morning I walk out to the hive to wish them a good day and every evening I lean in close to the entrance of their home...

This is the time of year in which I am endlessly entertained with bluebirds nesting and now hatching out another generation of young. Papa birds are easy to identify with their brilliant colors. It was Henry David Thoreau that said a bluebird looks as though he...

A few evenings ago I was cutting grass along the shoulder of the road while my neighbor was cutting down and sectioning a dead tree in his front yard. As I was trudging behind my push mower, my neighbor was hauling away the logs of the hollowed out pine. Out of the...

The events of Good Friday are well known and often told by believers and followers throughout the world. Each Gospel offers only one word to describe what happened: crucified. Though we want all the gory details – we live in a culture of violence after all – not much...

Do you compost? It is the best kind of recycling one can do. Compost consists of most any biodegradable material such as raw vegetables, coffee grounds, leaves, grass, and fruit. I keep a compost pile in the woods out behind my yard. Once it has thoroughly rotted – I...

...That was the subject line of an email I recently received - "Muffin Top Drop." I am not sure if it was a promotion for weight-loss or advertising a delicious pastry. I decided to forgo opening the email, assuming it was unsolicited. Besides, I like muffin tops and...

A week or so ago many were amused, some outraged, and others mystified at the audacity of a pastor’s efforts to raise $65 million for a private jet. Apparently this pastor just skipped over the part in the Bible where Jesus instructed his disciples to, “Take no gold,...

Have you ever heard of a “Selfie-Stick?” This past Christmas I was surprised with the gift of one, and a favorite one at that! First, for the uninformed, let me explain the term “selfie.” A selfie is a rather new word that refers to taking a self-portrait, usually...

In baptism and through water we are marked by God as one of God’s own. Baptism is the symbol of being born again. On this day Christians around the world are marked with ashes.   To be marked with ashes with the sign of the cross is really the only time...

To The Field of Stars: A Pilgrim’s Journey to Santiago De Compostela, by Kevin A. Codd   Told from the perspective of a Catholic Priest, this book recounts a thirty-five day pilgrimage across Spain to Santiago de Compostela, the traditional burial place of the...

Every town and city has something that caters to the tourist. In my little hometown of Eatonton, GA, you can take a brief (and I mean brief) tour of the Uncle Remus Museum and purchase some sweet, Brer Rabbit swag. Right here in Augusta for one special week thousands...

One fall morning, when I was a little boy of eight years old, I took it upon myself to leave the house and explore the vast pastures and woods of our farm. In the past my daddy and granddaddy walked every acre with me, but this was the first time I struck out on my...

  “Every man looks upon his wood pile with a sort of affection.” Henry David Thoreau   All of my life I have enjoyed the blessings of the generosity of others. This includes procuring firewood. I have friends in the church that have allowed me to cut wood,...

As I write this I am in between Christmas Eve services. Our family service has concluded and hundreds of "children of all ages" are happily making their way to home and celebration. In less than an hour our sanctuary will fill to capacity.   If we are honest (and...

For the last 15 or so years I have made it a point to read everything this former Poet Laureate has written – and he has written much as a poet and essayist. When I came across his most recent published manuscript in a compact little bookstore in lower Manhattan there...

Last night as I eased into my corner of the sofa and assumed a posture that cannot be good for long-term bone health I joined the ranks of Americans throughout our land and channel surfed through my cable options. Soon I landed on the holiday program A Charlie Brown...

In part as a personal discipline as well as a need to better organize my reflections on books I have read, I will be sharing periodic book reviews. Books connect us, frustrate us, compel us and sometimes disgust us. Thank goodness for books because they give us...

Are you ready for Christmas? I have fond recollections from childhood of my grandmother readying for Christmas by weeks and weeks of baking, boiling and kneading her way to December 25th.  The kitchen and spare bedroom of her simple house would be stacked high with...

Peace. What an elusive word. In this season of giving thanks it can be difficult to be grateful when you are not experiencing peace.   Peace. It is sometimes difficult to imagine it. Just look to Ferguson, MO. Not much peace there. Not with the Brown family who...

Like clockwork I can look at those Maples just to the side of the church, the ones that are  near the welcome center, and know that Thanksgiving is near. These trees just blaze, like flares signaling that the time of giving thanks is near.   Are you good at...