Russellings of the Spirit

compassion

  • To Callous, or Not to Callous

    Blogosphere, meet my guitars. The Martin Dreadnought acoustic is the one on the left and the Fender American Stratocaster (with double humbucker pickup) is the one on the right. Guitars, meet the blogosphere. I love these instruments and miss them… Continue reading

  • I Can’t Know

    By my not-totally-rigorous estimate, I have officiated at close to 100 funerals during my career as a pastor. This total was boosted significantly by one memorable week in 2014 when there were three. Every one of these formal church services… Continue reading

  • Me and Rosie and the GOM

    Fort Collins, Colorado – the place where Joan and I moved last November – is a friendly place. And when I say friendly, I mean VERY friendly. Actually, I have an introverted friend here who loves almost everything about Fort… Continue reading

  • Something from Nothing, Part 2

    (In yesterday’s installment, I recounted one of my most abysmal performances as a pastoral counselor. Troy, a congregant, had come to see me with an incredible mountain of problems including job loss, cancer, his wife’s infidelity, and parenting challenges, all… Continue reading

  • Change is Coming

    Think back; do you recall events in your life that CHANGED you? I mean, changed you in a profound, lasting, BC/AD kind of way? I believe I was forever changed that time my dad suffered third-degree burns on his upper… Continue reading

  • Chew on it

    “Is this mine to do?” Sometimes this is an easy question to answer… other times it is surprisingly difficult. In my experience, it is also a question that most folks do not ask nearly often enough. I was across town… Continue reading

  • Go Do Love

    Yesterday at church I heard an inspiring sermon. The pastor challenged me (well, all of us actually) to make an intentional practice of acknowledging the many-layered, complex, rich, and vibrant nature of every person we meet. She told us that… Continue reading

  • The real emergency

    Settling in, I was struck by how quiet and calm it all was. For a room whose first name is EMERGENCY, I had visions of wailing sirens, screaming people, racing doctors, and slippery pools of blood on the floor, visions,… Continue reading

  • For me?

    Joan and I (and Joan’s daughter Jessica) are in Puerto Rico for a few days, enjoying our first-ever trip to this island. What an amazing place! If you have never been, I highly recommend it. For Jessica, this is a… Continue reading

  • The Overmow

    “… outdo one another in showing honor.”                                    Romans 12:10, NRSV My next-door neighbor and I are in a competition. Not that I’m keeping score or anything, but I think I just went ahead by one earlier today. (Self… Continue reading