by David Anderson
I had breakfast yesterday morning with a friend from seminary. She was telling me about a leadership conference that she had recently hosted. Pastors of thriving congregations had come to speak, but for her one stood out. It was a man we both knew and admired. “Gary told us about a failure,” she said. “All […]
by David Anderson 2 Comments Filed Under: Fear, Grace, Happiness, Letting Go, Mercy
“The whole fall, back-to-school just hit me like a truck.” That’s the way a mother described the first days of September as we talked last night. Me too. It all comes on so fast. Summer seems to start gradually, as things wind slowly down. But it always ends with a bang. A gun goes off. […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Choice, Daily Practice, Fear, Freedom, Happiness, Letting Go
“People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.” The wisdom—and wit—of Thomas Merton. We all climb that ladder. There is probably something wrong with you if you don’t. And there are lots of ladders. Young […]
by David Anderson 14 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Fear, Grace, Happiness, Letting Go, Mercy, Surrender
Are you afraid to die? I have sat by the bed of many a dying man and woman. Those who are afraid of dying are—at bottom—afraid that perhaps they have not actually lived. It doesn’t matter if they are great church-goers. It doesn’t matter if, by all appearances, they’ve been a good person. It doesn’t […]
by David Anderson 2 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Fear, Grace, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it, Seeing
“Flight attendants, prepare for landing.” The captain’s voice is always calm, a studied calm, a Houston-we-have-a-problem calm. Landing means we must leave this glassy smooth cruising altitude of 30,000 feet and bump our way through the lumpy atmosphere below the clouds. I heard the captain’s words Saturday on final approach to JFK, returning home from […]
by David Anderson 12 Comments Filed Under: Change, Faith/Trust, Fear
I spoke with three people on Sunday whose life-as-usual had dead-ended. For two it was a life-altering illness. For the other it was a lost job. It was a typical Sunday, really—I suppose I stopped and talked to twenty people between three services, a parish picnic and a hospital call. These days, world unsettled as […]
by David Anderson 2 Comments Filed Under: Change, Faith/Trust, Fear, Letting Go, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it, Vocation/ Calling
“I was playing golf with a friend,” the man said to me yesterday. “And he said—it must’ve been at the 14th hole, I think—he said, ‘John, do you believe in hell?” He put the club down and asked why such a question. The friend explained that his daughter had been blessed with her first baby, […]
by David Anderson 9 Comments Filed Under: Faithfulness, Fear, Grace, Love
On Saturday I preached the funeral of a great man. Doug McArthur was the Treasurer of Trinity Church in Solebury, Pennsylvania, where I was privileged to minister for eleven years. As I reflected on why Doug had been such a powerful influence in my life, I realized that he was a grand father. He […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Faithfulness, Family, Fear, Grace, Love