Earth Speaks in Haiti
All our careful plans and fervent hopes are devastated by one brief shudder in earth’s crust. In the face of such appalling suffering and destruction, an offering of words seems …
Our Constitutional Crisis
The widely recognized dysfunction and paralysis of the US Senate is creating a Constitutional crisis in our country analogous to the fault-line that has created the devastating earthquake in Haiti. …
Tiger Woods, Publicity, and the Earth
Tiger Woods captured my loyalty when he emerged as a Wunderkind on the collegiate golf circuit. His steely concentration, discipline, and even-tempered calm soon vaulted him to the top of …
Obama’s Just War Nobel Speech
President Obama’s address to the Nobel Peace Prize Assembly has been justly praised for reintroducing the tradition of “just war” thinking into discussions of peace-building. His carefully reasoned exploration of …
Bishop Spong’s “Eternal Life”
Bishop John Shelby Spong, as you blogees may remember, was with us for a most stimulating and engaging weekend in September. His lectures were based on his latest (and he …
Bluegrass at the Boston Roundtable
Last week I spent some time in the Boston area, where I helped lead Tom Porter’s seminar on Restorative Justice at Boston University School of Theology before moving on to …
Rooting in the Past
In her recent column, “Rooting Around in the Past,” (Newsweek, October 28, 2009, p. 24), Raina Kelley reflects on the way media have handled news about Michelle Obama’s mixed racial …
A Visit to Boston – Update
On November 9-11 I will be in the Boston area. On Monday I will be at Boston University School of Theology to join in leading Tom Porter’s seminar on Restorative …
A Table for the Roundtable Gathering
The Roundtable Worship Gathering has met at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville for over six years. I finally got around to making them a table! While other communion tables …
Good Stock
I recently received an inquiry from Pamela Hanson, who asked if I knew of a poem that could be read at a memorial service for her father, Roland Hanson, who …
Legless — A Poem
This poem has been gestating for a while and finally reached a point where I can share it. It bears on a theme in Red Clay, Blood River, but is …
The Junaluska Conferences
Last week Sylvia and I were heavily involved in two conferences at the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center a few miles from our home. Both occurred in pouring rain …
Lake Junaluska Peace Conference
You haven’t been hearing from me as much as I would like, because Sylvia and I have been very involved in planning for the second annual Lake Junaluska Peace Conference. …
Connecting with Health Care
I often return to Lanier Johnson’s comment in Red Clay, Blood River that “Connection is the name of the ecological game.” (p. 32) The angry debates over reforming our health …
David Abram’s Spell of the Sensuous
Many readers of Red Clay, Blood River have been struck by the voice of Earth as narrator. It is Earth’s memory in which we find our own. It is in …
Festival in Cherokee
I’ll be going over to Cherokee, NC, this Saturday, August 29, to be on hand for the Saunook Village Festival. I will be hanging out in the Cherokee Heritage Museum …