Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who rode into Jerusalem at the start of Passover. No one knew what it meant at the time. The crowd waved their branches and loved this peculiar spectacle and the more shouting they heard the louder they shouted.  Save us! Save us!  As if a poor man on a donkey could do any such thing. The Scribes scoffed ... The Pharisees were amused ...

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. Christian.  Athletic.  Easy-going. These were the three words listed next to my photograph in the College of Wooster’s Freshman Directory back in the fall of 1977, affectionately known at the “Baby Book.”  Little did I know that we would be saddled ever since with the words we chose to describe ourselves.

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. “It went by so fast.” These were some of the last words my mom said before Parkinson’s took away her ability to speak, and then eventually her life.  I still remember her eyes when she said them, looking at me with some astonishment that her life was almost over, a life that was so well spent...

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. Dreams often baffle me and alarm me, and sometimes they open a way forward. With the start of spring training my mind has turned once again to baseball, and memories of my playing days start to spill in.  I share with you, then, that for 35 years since my last at bat in college I would have recurring dreams of realizing I have one more year of eligibility...

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. “These are the most radical, political, revolutionary words ever uttered.” The words spoken on the pitcher’s mound in the spring of 1979 were not these.  I was a catcher for the College of Wooster baseball team, we were playing Wittenberg University and, at that point in the season we had the best record in all of college baseball, 30-1.  ...

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who holds compassion for all God’s creation. A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on. These words by poet Carl Sandburg have stayed in my mind, word for word, for some forty years and they come back to me every time I think of our new Infant Care Center on the third floor. ...

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who often needed to get away from the pressing crowds. A little history of my upcoming sabbatical after Easter, now termed a vacation and study leave. Every seven years, pastors in the Presbytery of Santa are entitled to a 3–4-month sabbatical for rest and restoration.  For me the seven-year mark was 2019 ...

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who turns our daily lives into a calling. “I liked your song.” That’s all that came out.  I wanted to say how Groundhog Day has been such an important movie in my life, how my wife Jenny and I started dating on Groundhog Day in 1981 and we have made watching it a tradition, and how brilliant and funny your story is, so thank you for all of that....

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who Gandhi said was “the most active resister known perhaps to history.” I have been an enthusiastic advocate of nonviolence all my life. No, wait, hold on, that’s not right.  In my earliest days (with many photographs as proof), I was smitten with all things cowboy—guns and boots and hats and kerchiefs.  How I wanted a horse as well but for some reason mom and dad said no.  Horseless, then, I could be seen shooting my fair share of bad guys and didn’t think a thing of it.  I was on my way, like most boys I knew at the time, to a life of guns and violence, albeit all fake but still a big part of my life perspective. Then it all changed. ...

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places,  Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who calls us to turn toward a new realm of justice, compassion, and nonviolence, which is as close as your hand (Mark 1:15).  “There are 2400 members in this church and 3,000 opinions.” These are the first words I remember hearing as I began my ministry some forty years ago, spoken by the Senior Pastor as I arrived fresh from seminary.  About the same time my pastor father gave me advice I can’t seem to shake: “My main job in ministry has been to keep the saints from killing each other.”  I still chuckle at this one.