Russellings of the Spirit

death

  • To Be Free

    During most years, the topic of freedom is something we trot out once a year… like our Christmas ornaments and tax returns. When the calendar hits early July, we religiously unfurl the red-white-and-blue bunting, light M-80s and Black Cats and… Continue reading

  • This Side of the Desk

    I just finished reading the book When Breath Becomes Air. I am still drying my eyes. It is the story of a brilliant, gifted neurosurgeon named Paul Kalanithi. Kalanithi seems to be on his way to an illustrious career as… Continue reading

  • Frozen People

    I knew it was coming, just as surely as the next episode of The Lone Ranger on Saturday morning TV. When I was a wee lad and we made the 415-mile trek to see my dad’s parents in St. Louis,… Continue reading

  • Take Hope

    “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” Romans 8:24, NRSV. Hope is a precious commodity these days. On some days, it can be harder to find than that ever-elusive toilet paper. We squint and look at the… Continue reading

  • Safe at home?

    Let me ask you: how safe do you feel right now? I will answer first by confessing that most of the time, I feel pretty safe. My safety, I am well aware, derives largely from the privilege I enjoy as… Continue reading

  • Team Jesus

    I made my choice a long time ago. In the middle of one of the darkest times of my life… when every door seemed to be sealed shut… when my relationships only offered pain and resentment… when the future looked… Continue reading

  • Give it up

    Here in the U.S., we sing proudly about being citizens of, “The land of the free and the home of the brave.” And yet most of the time we define freedom as “my right to do whatever I damned well… Continue reading

  • Before and After

    It was over 20 years ago, but it was a period that still holds the title of “Absolute Worst Time of My Life.” It was the time when my marriage of 23 years crashed and burned… one hundred percent due… Continue reading

  • “Let me OFF!”

    Well, it’s that time of year again. It is the time of year when the antennae of clergyfolk in the United Methodist Church are exquisitely attuned to every minor shift in the wind, every minute rise or fall in barometric… Continue reading

  • Soul Winter

    Yep. Just poked my head out the window and confirmed something I’ve suspected for about a month now. IT’S WINTER! (Unless, of course, you happen to live in the southern hemisphere). And by the looks of things, it plans to… Continue reading