by David Anderson
When it first came out in 1991, I watched “The Fisher King,” a modern version of the Arthurian legend. Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges) is a raunchy talk show host who inadvertently provokes a caller into a mass shooting at a Manhattan bar. He’s fired from his top job, turns to booze, and just about hits […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: authority, Awareness, Change, Discernment, Identity, Vocation/ Calling
On Sunday I was privileged to be back preaching at my former parish, Trinity Church in Solebury, PA. The gospel for the day was the story of “The Rich Young Ruler” who comes to Jesus seeking eternal life. You know this one. Jesus says, Go sell all your possessions, give the money to the poor, […]
by David Anderson 8 Comments Filed Under: Money, Transformation, Vocation/ Calling
I recently parked my car in New York and came back to find a leaflet jammed into my door handle. I looked down the street; every car had been hit. I saw a picture of the pope and figured it was just an overeager Catholic blanketing the neighborhood with tracts. Opening it, I found otherwise. […]
by David Anderson 10 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Awareness, Change, Character, Community, Conflict, Conversion, Love, Vocation/ Calling
When people find out you’re newly retired they often ask how you like it. I’ve tried to be honest and tell people it was hard for me. I thought that just because I knew all the pitfalls of over-identifying with your job—and then losing that total identity—I wouldn’t have to fall in that pit. But […]
by David Anderson 13 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Awareness, Discernment, Identity, Letting Go, Vocation/ Calling
swore with an oath, “I do not know the man.” But it wasn’t exactly true. While Jesus is on trial, Peter is hanging around the courthouse when a maid recognizes him. She points her finger, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” Peter denies it and slinks off, only to be fingered twice more. Each […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Grace, Identity, Lent, Vocation/ Calling
is the queen of surrender. When the angel comes to her with the news, both impossible and outrageous, she says simply, “Let it be.” Let what is about to happen, happen. This isn’t passivity or indifference. It isn’t fatalistic. Not, “Well, it’s bound to happen, so there’s no sense fighting it.” It’s curious, wanting to […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Lent, Letting Go, Listening, Reality--trusting it, Surrender, Transformation, Uncategorized, Vocation/ Calling
is a heroine of faith because she aspired to something greater than survival. We only meet this Moabite woman because an Israeli family, in the middle of a devastating famine, flees Bethlehem in search of food. Naomi and her husband Elimilech arrive in Moab, their two sons marry Moabite women—Orpah and Ruth—and then all the […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Belief, Character, Conversion, Faith/Trust, Faithfulness, Family, Hope, Lent, Salvation, Vocation/ Calling
is the wild card in God’s plan of universal salvation. When her mistress Sarah cannot conceive, Sarah gives her slave to have sex with Abraham (Gen. 16). Like a lot of poor women, Hagar is just given like a piece of property; her body is not her own. She gets pregnant, bears Ishmael, and Sarah […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Blessing, Grace, Lent, Mercy, Vocation/ Calling