6/26/2019
Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death. It’s hard to believe that the “King of Pop” has been gone for ten years. While not ignoring the tragic events that led to his untimely death, it’s difficult for me not to go down the memory lane of my favorite Michael Jackson songs that spanned from "ABC" to "Man in the Mirror." And who can ever forget watching the iconic footage of Michael's patented “moonwalk” after tossing his hat at Motown's 25 Anniversary? All of these ...
6/5/2019
3D Journey ANNUAL CONFERENCE On Tuesday, June 11, I will be in Athens, GA (actually, I'll be there on Monday, June 10) attending the 153rd session of the North Georgia Annual Conference. This is a voting year for General Conference and Jurisdictional Conference delegates. For a list of self-nominated lay and clergy delegates CLICK HERE and please refer to pp. 205-308 for clergy and pp. 309-381 for the laity During this session, we will have a chance to mark several transitions...
5/20/2019
A Detour From Regular Routines On Memorial Day, my middle niece Jazmine graduates from high school! It’s hard to believe it’s her time to graduate. Where did the time go? It seems like it was just yesterday that I held her in the maternity ward on Christmas Day in 2000. As the first of two nieces born on Christmas Day (Gracelyn is 16), Jazz's graduation forces me to admit that I'm officially old finally. It’s interesting that it took my niece’s graduation to make me finally acknowledge ...
5/2/2019
One of the most paralyzing questions that people ask during a transition is: What’s next? When something comes to an end, like a job, or career, a marriage, death, or a particular way of life, we attempt to push past the “what’s next?” question, hoping that we can find something new very quickly. We become irritated when we can't chart a course forward. We find ways to compensate and go through the motions. I experienced this first hand with a third-grader named Patrick, who...
4/17/2019
A couple of days ago, a friend shared with me a Facebook post on Latin. It was a multiple-choice test, to determine if I was a Latin master. To my surprise, I scored 9 out of 10! The test was fun for bragging rights and allowed me to show off my limited knowledge of Latin words; most of which I came across during my doctoral studies and the others from “Googling" the names of medication so that I can order the cheaper generic brand. Most of us either use or hear Latin words;...
4/3/2019
April Fools Day isn’t engaging. I quickly discovered this lesson as a gullible kid who always got April Fooled. No matter how many times the class clown would set up the prank, I fell for some elaborate hoax or outrageous fictional claims. It even took me five years to realize that Stan Lee was not my best friend’s brother! I chalk up being an April Fool to my active child-like imagination that connected with comic books and cartoons. I was the perfect patsy to be set up on ...
3/20/2019
Spring, Lent, and A Bridge Over Troubled Water Today’s the first day of spring, a season for cleaning, change, renewal and yes, pollen. I don’t think that isn’t a coincidence that Lent occurs at some point during the spring, as both seasons highlight the need for change and new beginnings. Winter makes many of us want to curl up to a warm fire and withdraw from the world. But with the arrival of spring, we can start to come out of that place of self-protection and look forward to new ...
3/6/2019
A rich man's wife became sick. When her death was drawing near, she called her only daughter to her bedside. She said, "Dear child, remain pious and good, and then our dear God will always protect you, and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you." With this, she closed her eyes and died. The girl went out to her mother's grave every day and wept, and she remained pious and good. When winter came, the snow spread a white cloth over the grave, and when the spring sun had ...
2/21/2019
Awakening to Relevancy A few weeks ago, the 61st Annual Grammy Awards aired on CBS. Although I saw several commercial advertisements on Facebook and TV leading up to the date, I didn't tune in to watch. After attending a church conference to decide on property issues and wishing my Aunt Rebekah a Happy 85th Birthday, the last thing that I wanted to do was to watch an awards show. Instead, I snuggled up on the sofa to watch reruns of Law and Order. After a few minutes into the third episode,...
2/6/2019
Nearly eight months ago, I wrote a blog on the board game Candy Land. Click here to read the blog. You do remember the game, don't you? In the article, I played with the idea of the game as a metaphorical pathway for the church to assess each area of the Sunday morning experience for a new here guest. Last week, I got a chance to try out the metaphor first hand as I was a "new here" guest at a church. I went to the church because a friend who was going to attend invited me. Frankly, it would ...