Nick’s Walk

There is nothing so heart-wrenching as the cry of someone in pain, “nobody listens.” God has placed in each of us a need to be heard, a passion to communicate. Ultimately, this need is a call to Him. There is nothing more powerful and affirming than a desperate call to God in a time of need that is promptly and,  without a chance of coincidence, responded to. Nothing is more assuring than the confirmation that the God of the Universe cares enough to listen to our pitiful, tiny cries and to take time to respond. I have witnessed the power of listening in my decades of work with Kairos Prison Ministry. Our slogan is “Listen, Listen, Love, Love,” I have seen numerous times the power of a willingness to listen to someone whose voice is almost never heard and to respond without judgment but with love. Such listening is not an agreement in the correctness of what another thinks or has done. It is, however, an affirmation of the worth of the speaker. There is a grotesque lack of listening in our world right now. I know it’s a political season and that non-listening is exaggerated in such times. […]

I can’t believe how fast time is moving. No doubt the older you get, the faster it goes. It’s not just time that’s flying. The world seems like it’s sliding down a mountainside. At first, it was just a bit of instability but as it starts to slip the movement accelerates.  What at first seems stoppable, soon becomes inevitable. I don’t think I’m a prude. Maybe things are worse because it’s the “political” season. Things are said that are obviously not true, but they are said often enough to become accepted as truth. Burning and looting are acceptable means of “expression.”  A candidate for president gave an interview to a “singer” whose claim to fame is a song so disgusting as to be unspeakable in “polite” society.  We have a “right” to kill our unborn and our too old to be useful. The evidence of the slide is everywhere. But this post isn’t about the slide. It’s about not getting dragged down by it. To avoid getting caught up in a slide means identifying and grabbing onto something that isn’t sliding. The forces behind the slide will do all they can to blind you to that something and, should […]

It’ been kind of a rough week. One of my favorite ladies at my church died. She survived only a short time after her diagnosis. She was a “frontier” woman. She raised her family alone. She raised animals. There seemed nothing she couldn’t do. At the same time, my pastor ended up in the hospital with COVID-19. He’s going to be all right it seems, but it was sobering.  When the Israelites traveled from Mount Sina to the edge of Canaan, the Kohathites had the privilege of carrying the Ark of the Covenant and other holy vessels. Someone else, unnamed, carried the tent pegs, ropes and poles. Each job was very important. Every day we are supposed to be doing something for the Lord. For most of us, most of the time, it isn’t incredibly important or flashy; but it still needs to be done. My friend Laura wasn’t flashy and much of what she did most would not consider important, but she did those things. She did them well. She will be incredibly missed. The thought of losing my senior pastor made me consider many of the things he’s done. They were probably a bit flashier, but to […]

My Dad’s generation has been rightly called, “The Greatest Generation.” After all, they defeated Nazism, Fascism, and Communism at least for their times. They came back from the war and educated themselves and re-built America. They were fearless. This generation seems scared of its own shadow. It’s allowed Nazism, Fascism and Communism to re-emerge, not just in Europe but here at home. To this generation, wearing a mask is patriotic. I wonder what my Dad who had a friend on the draft board lie about his club foot so he could join the marines, would think about that. Their generation ran to the fight not away from it.  This generation is afraid of a virus, being called racist, being proud of its country. It generally flees from responsibility or service. It was willing to “fight” the virus as long as the government covered its unemployment benefits and went trillions of dollars in debt to send everyone a check.  What made Dad’s generation so great? It was fearless. It was unafraid of dying for the country and not intimidated by politicians. They were imperfect people of faith. If you have faith in Jesus, your future is secure; you have no […]

A few months ago I started taking the local papers: The Advertiser and The Advocate. I skim both papers every day. I do the Sudoku puzzles in both. It’s my desperate attempt to keep mentally alert at 71. The other thing I do because of my age is check out the obituaries. I have decided I need to take an obit picture or at least designate one already taken. I see that people make mistakes when posting obit pictures. I always get a little pang when I see the picture of a young person heading up an obituary. I feel misled when I read the obit and find the deceased was in their 90s. There is something dishonest about posting a pic of the deceased that’s decades old. On the other hand, I understand not posting a recent picture. When we get old, we are often not recognizable to old friends and family. That’s why I think I need to find or take a picture that most people I know will recognize when I pass when I am likely to look nothing like I do now. The other thing I notice is that there are a lot of folks […]

  I receive Fr. Richard Rohr’s postings each day. Frankly, I don’t usually read them. It’s not that I disagree with them. It’s that most of them are over my head, spiritually speaking. At 2 a.m., this morning I woke and, is my custom, I opened up my phone looking for something to read or listen to, something so boring it would put me back to sleep. I came upon Fr. Rohr’s posting. It didn’t put me to sleep. It hit me directly with its simple truth. I have stolen most of it and reproduced it here. I have emphasized my favorite lines. I suppose Fr. Rohr won’t mind. The Wisdom of Job Tuesday,  July 7, 2020 Theology does not by itself provide wisdom in crisis. All theology must become a living spirituality to really change us or the world. It’s disappointing that we Christians have emphasized theology, catechism, and religious education much more than prayer and practice. The biblical book of Job is probably one of the greatest books on prayer that has ever been written. It breaks our stereotypes of what it means to communicate with God. If we view Job’s story as a journey into an […]

If you are to survive all that has and is happening in 2020 get this through your thick skull: You can never go back. This can be a hard truth, especially for us older folks, but we need to accept it to survive. Let me give you some examples. Work. Work will no longer be a noun. For most, it will no longer be a place you go to. It will be a thing you do. There have been too many jobs, we discovered in 2020, that can be done best from home. The costs of commuting, providing workspace, and dealing with the personnel conflicts that arise from “office politics” will drive this change. For many, but not all, work is no longer a place. Shopping. If it can’t be delivered to our homes, we probably don’t need it. Health. Health will no longer be something we entrust to our health care providers. In 2020, we learned that they don’t know everything; in some cases, don’t know anything. Health will have to be a matter of personal responsibility. We listen to those with more knowledge and experience, but we decide for ourselves. We can’t trust everyone with a medical […]

  I haven’t posted since April. It’s not that things haven’t been happening. There have been lots to comment on. I just didn’t know what to say. What hasn’t already been said about COVID-19? There seem to be only two positions: The danger has been greatly exaggerated. It hasn’t been taken seriously enough. We went from the “greatest economy in history” to the “highest unemployment since the depression” seemingly overnight. We transitioned from “if you don’t stay home, you’re evil” to “if you aren’t out protesting, you’re evil.” We have two candidates for President. One can’t stop tweeting and the other can’t string a coherent paragraph together.  If we agree on anything, it’s that the world has gone crazy. What can we do? What should we be doing? I think the answer is in the last Psalm.  Psalm 150 1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary;     praise him in his mighty heaven! 2 Praise him for his mighty works;     praise his unequaled greatness! 3 Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn;     praise him with the lyre and harp! 4 Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;     praise him with strings and flutes! 5 Praise him with a clash of cymbals;     praise […]