Halfway through my third year of ministry, I tried to run away to the convent. Now, I forget the specific reason. Perhaps it was that my Annual Conference had yet to to decide if it would ordain openly gay candidates. It might have been the approaching first anniversary of my grandmother's death. Whatever the motivation, … Continue reading More prayer, not less →

Like many things, chronic pain was something that I thought I understood by proxy. I had watched my grandmother suffer under the weight of her increasing affliction. As years passed, she hunched over, more and more; finding less and less relief. Sometimes, I relive the progression with photographs. My grandmother suffers from chronic back pain, … Continue reading Christ and Chronic Pain →

I did not plan to make my stand there - in the bathroom. Like some of you, I had dreams for my personal social-isolation. A marathon. A novel. A sonata (played, not written). For my ministry, I imagined a YouTube channel. An online framework of spiritual reflection. A how-to manual for progressive Christian activism. Then, … Continue reading A tale of two bathrooms →

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;so many things seem filled with the intentto be lost that their loss is no disaster. Or so says Elizabeth Bishop is in poem "One Art". In line after line she builds her case, describing in details the petty things that she loses each day; her keys, a … Continue reading The art of losing takes time to master →