Category: Thoughts On Life
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At the Intersection of Death and Love | Reflections on Ash Wednesday
Today is an odd day. On the one hand, today is Ash Wednesday: a day we focus on the finality of death, the realization that our lives are short and headed toward an end. But, juxtaposed against that, is that today is also Valentine’s Day: a day we celebrate the…
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Campus Ministry During the Summer
“What DO you do when students are gone for summer break?” It’s a question that every Campus Minister is inevitably asked at some point or another. It’s true that a Campus Minister’s schedule changes as students pack up their dorm rooms, load up their cars, and drive off to other…
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On Mentors, Identity, and Turning 30
Tomorrow, I turn 30. As an introvert (INFJ, for those that care about such distinctions), it is only fitting that I spend at least a few minutes reflecting on the last decade of life that was my twenties. Ten years ago, I leapt from my teenage years with excitement and…
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The Open Doors of Ash Wednesday
The doors are open. It’s not odd for this to be true because it is, after all, an unusually warm day for March 1. I approach and enter them with wonder: at their openness, and at what is to come inside. We gather in the pews, preparing ourselves for the…
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The Holy Place
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” – Exodus 3:5 (NIV) I was far from any burning bush when I realized the ground on which I was standing was holy. No, I didn’t remove my shoes…
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I Have No Words.
Today, I struggle to find the right words. I sit here in my warm, quiet home without a worry if tomorrow will come or if my family will be safe. I’m filled with hope that the future is still on course- that my journey will continue into the dawn of…
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Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch: A Metaphor for Collegiate Ministry
In Acts 8:26-40, we find the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Philip hears the voice of God telling him to go to a place and he goes, with no idea what is waiting for him when he gets there. What Philip finds is someone seeking to connect with, and…
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Refraining Good Friday at Christmastime
Christmas Eve worship is always a favorite of mine: carol singing, decorations, “lessons” from the scriptural Christmas stories, nativities, children hardly able to sit still for the coming Christmas, and, of course, candles filling the worship space with light. All of these elements of worship in this annual service are…
