Presby-Musings

  Recently, my fiancé and I did some shopping for things we needed to move her from St. Louis to Austin.  On a whim, we decided to stop at a massive thrift store that had just opened up in the shopping center where we happened to be.  To our surprise, we found some things that we'd been talking about getting to make our Austin house more homey, including some artwork that delighted us.  There were two things that contributed to our feeling of delight: that we were getting a bargain and that we could both visualize the artwork in our new place.   As I thought about that moment, I started thinking more deeply about all the ways that delight can shape our lives, our outlook and even our spiritual growth.   Delight is often an underrated emotion.  It's unexpected, joyful, and fulfilling all at once.  But I feel like most of us have a hard time allowing ourselves to experience it.   The theologian and mystic, Thomas Merton, once wro...

This week, I decided to spend some time reflecting on joy in the Daily Devos.  God knows, we could all use some joy in our lives.    I'm writing this now after spending about half an hour perusing the headlines about what's making the news, and finding nothing that seemed optimistic, joyful, or the least bit encouraging.   It's easy to start thinking that the world is going to end at any moment. There's no shortage of outrage-inducing things happening around us, and the more that we read, watch or engage with this kind of negativity, the more the algorithms make sure we see more of it.   I read this quote recently from C.S. Lewis that made me smile, and I thought it deserved sharing:  “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” Let me unpack this a bit and reflect on why I think this quote is so important for us to think about, given our current circumstances. You see, fear has a way of shrinking our lives. It tells us to brace ourselves constantly...

I used to pride myself on being a "hard laugh" kind of person.  Someone who claims to be a "hard laugh" has the idea that something has to be truly funny before they make what comedian Pete Holmes calls their "joy noise."    I would say things like, "That movie made me laugh, and I'm a hard laugh, you know."  Or I would watch videos on YouTube and Instagram that would reduce my kids to tears as they laughed at them, and I wouldn't crack a smile.  Pete Holmes did a comedy bit years ago that made me realize how ridiculous I was being.  In the bit, he literally quoted my line about laughing at a movie, and being a "hard laugh" guy, and then went on to say: "Work on that. What are you? Nosferatu?  Let some sunlight into your soul."  That really hit home for me.  I realized that we need more, not less, joy in our lives right about now.  There's so much in the world around us to drive us to worry, anger, and even despair...

Today's Daily Devo is drawn from a devotion I originally wrote nearly nine years ago.  I decided to reflect on it, update it, and then share it.  I hope that you all have a meaningful Memorial Day.  When I was a kid, my family would often travel on Memorial Day to the small community of Seibert, Colorado, where my dad grew up. In a quiet cemetery on the outskirts of town, we would visit the graves of my dad’s grandparents and those of close friends and relatives. I remember walking among the stones, reading names and dates, and noticing the small American flags placed beside the graves of those who had served in the military. When my grandfather died when I was ten, those trips took on new meaning. My grandmother would refresh the flowers on his grave, and we would stand quietly while she did—each of us remembering in our own way, carrying our own thoughts and stories. Years later, I officiated at my grandmother’s funeral and returned to that cemetery as an adult. I re...

Recently, I went out for drinks and dinner with a friend.  It had been a long time coming, but our schedules had to align, and when they did, we jumped at it.   My friend got wind of a great restaurant on South Congress that was going to be closing soon, and we decided to go there on account of the great food, and the amazing patio where we could people watch.  He and I had a fabulous time, and the food was perfection.  We spent way more time there than we anticipated, but the evening flew by with great food, drinks, and awesome conversation.  At one point, I thought to myself, "I completely get why Jesus' ministry took place around tables so much."   I recently saw a quote by the great Julia Childs that goes something like this:  “People who love to eat are always the best people.” How can you not love that quote? If you read it slowly, you can almost hear Childs' unmistakable voice saying it.    Throughout Scripture, some of the ...

How many times a day do we encounter people in need, and we simply overlook them?  I know that I do more often than I'd like to admit.   It's easy to do because we're often in a rush to get from one place to another.  Even when we do see someone who needs our help or attention, we quickly calculate that we don't have time for an encounter with them and move on.  I was pumping gas into my car the other day, and heard a commotion inside the gas station.  Apparently, a man wth obvious mental health issues was arguing with the clerk, who had thrown him out of the station for trying to steal a bottle of water.   The guy filling his car up next to me called out to the man as he walked away agtated and talking to himself.  "Do you need water?" He asked him, and the man approached him.  "Here you go, I  got some for you."  He handed over a water bottle to the agitated man, who took it with trembling hands, and then walked away.  W...