It's about the Journey

I am in the midst of starting a new church. This is the second time that I have meandered down this road on my journey. The first sojourn was in 1991 for the United Methodist Church and lasted for 11 years until I was appointed by the Bishop to a 150 year old church.

I could not let go of the desire to start another new faith community. It is a passion that fills me with joy, that completes me, that uses every gift that I have and uses those gifts in new ways. So, following my passion, I am in the midst of starting another journey on the spiritual trail; literally. I am starting Journey Church a new ministry of the United Church of Christ.

Here is a video that expresses the awe that I am feeling and my answer to the question raised in the video is "Yes! I am enjoying my story." In fact, I am filled with joy on this journey.

A story for tomorrow

Absurd Beauty

O God, my God, how excellent are all your works. Sitting in your Presence I am amazed at the beauty and the absurdity. That I should be a part of Your creation leaves me humbled.

On a recent trip to California to see our children and grandchildren we spent some time in Mendocino County along Highway 1. There were moments of trail running, sea lion watching, rock climbing, and simple inhalations of life.

Every footstep, every breath, every child, every creature a wonderment, a miracle, a reflection of The Presence - everything, including me. Such beauty and such absurdity. 

When we open ourselves to both the Presence and the possibilities life unfolds and in that moment there is an explosion of joy that satisfies the soul's craving for love.

It's the Journey

I have been away from the blog-o-sphere for awhile, focused on the new. I am in the midst of creating a new community of faith called Journey in the Coralville, Iowa City, North Liberty, Iowa area. It is a ministry of the United Church of Christ and the first new UCC church start in Iowa for a number of years.

It is not a church in the traditional sense; there is no building and the congregation at this point is more an amorphous group of online inquirers. I will be gathering people in small groups at coffee shops and rec centers, in bistros and bars, even on motorcycles and soccer fields, as well as continuing a virtual connection. It is truly an emerging church. Some of the early opportunities will be mindfulness classes and meditation groups.

From these diverse groups of faith sojourners, other ministries will be started and, eventually, a worship celebration will be developed and experienced. Jazz, blues, new age, and ancient music will be a part of a highly sensory, spiritually diverse, experience of the Sacred One. If you would like more information or want to connect to the community email me.

Ash Wednesday

It all comes down to this then: Whether it is in a place that has been begged, borrowed, or bought we are all going to eventually lie down and experience the long silence.

Ash Wednesday is upon us, that once a year moment of reflection when the Christian Church begs us to remember that we will all eventually die. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust” as the graveside mantra reminds us.

I find comfort in the experience of immersing my thumb in the ashes of last year’s palm branches and swiping a chiasmus on the foreheads of the faithful. Each year they line up with looks of expectation and penitence co-mingled as the sacred smudge is administered. Some, afterwards, exhibit signs of the burdens of life being lifted; a slight straightening of the shoulders, a decrease in the number of furrows etched in their brows.

These are the high holy moments of worship when a tangible experience of touch becomes sacrosanct. Our dying is acknowledged and the possibilities for life remembered.

A Contemplative Moment

A Contemplative Moment

From "AChurch for the Rest of Us." Find it on Facebook.

A Contemplative Moment

Find more contemplative moments on Facebook at: A Church for the Rest of Us.

My cook has shown me how I ought to live my own life!

"This is it! My cook has shown me how I ought to live my own life!" (Chuang Tzu)

I love to cook and cooking helps me to love. In the art of cooking I am able to discover my spiritual center and centered spiritually I am able to live into that which I profess.

For many the thought of designing, prepping, cooking, and plating a meal causes an angst that is insurmountable. Just the opposite occurs for me. As I enter into the process of physically feeding others I find myself re-discovering a “peace that passes understanding.” I am able to find calm in the midst of the world’s cacophony.

Renewed, refreshed, because of time spent cooking I can participate in renewing and refreshing the world.

Cutting Up An Ox

Prince Wen Hui's cook
Was cutting up an ox.
Out went a hand,
Down went a shoulder,
He planted a foot,
He pressed with a knee
The ox fell apart
With a whisper,
The bright cleaver murmured
Like a gentle wind.
Rhythm! Timing!
Like a sacred dance,
Like "The Mulberry Grove"
Like ancient harmonies!

"Good work!" the Prince exclaimed,
"Your method is faultless!"
"Method?" said the cook
Laying aside his cleaver,
"What I follow is Tao
Beyond all methods!

"When I first began
To cut up oxen
I would see before me
The whole ox
All in one mass.
"After three years
I no longer saw this mass.
I saw the distinctions.

"But now, I see nothing
With the eye. My whole being
Apprehends.
My senses are idle. The spirit
Free to work without plan
Follows its own instinct
Guided by natural line,
By the secret opening,
The hidden space,
My cleaver finds its own way.
I cut through no joint, chop no bone.

"A great cook needs a new chopper
Once a year - he cuts.
A poor cook needs a new one
Every month - he hacks!

"I have used this same cleaver
Nineteen years.
It has cut up
A thousand oxen.
Its edge is as keen
As if newly sharpened.
"There are spaces in the joints;
The blade is thin and keen:
When this thinness
Finds that space
There is all the room you need!
It goes like a breeze!
Hence I have this cleaver
Nineteen years
As if newly sharpened!


"True, there are sometimes
Tough joints. I feel them coming,
I slow down, I watch closely,
Hold back, barely move the blade,
And whump! the part falls away
Landing like a clod of earth.

"Then I withdraw the blade,
I stand still
And let the joy of the work
Sink in.
I clean the blade
And put it away."


Prince Wen Hui said,
"This is it! My cook has shown me
How I ought to live
My own life!"

-Chuang Tzu