Many years ago, there was a prominent member of the congregation I was serving who had definite, regularly voiced opinions about people who only showed up for church services on Easter Sunday. This congregant would announce that he – unlike his usual attendance on every other Sunday of the year – would not be attending…
Rollin Davis’s physical life of 79 years came to an end 19 years ago. Even though nearly two decades have passed since that sad day, Rollin often crosses my mind. I am sure that the reason for the frequent crossings is that during the latter years of his life, Rollin had made his way into…
Thirty-seven years ago it was common in Cleveland that luncheon and banquet planners invited a local member of the clergy to open community program events with a prayer. All those years ago I was beginning my pastoral responsibilities with a downtown Cleveland congregation. My name popped up on a luncheon banquet planner’s list and I…
Wednesday, January 25th, the Plain Dealer had a front-page article reporting that the “GOP fracture spills into the chamber.” The article details a fight over the house rules while giving another indication of how our ever more right leaning, Republican, Ohio House of Representatives is slipping deeper into the pit of incongruous hypocrisy. The dissension…
There is a financial institution near our home which is always seeking new investors. The electronic, digital, crawler on their building – in addition to messaging the date, time, and temperature – promises a “free gift” to anyone who opens an account. In our challenging times it is certainly naïve to ask rhetorically or, heaven forbid,…
Each Christmas for the more than 70 years that I can remember, there has always been some cranky-pants Christian who will make the whiny comment that, “Well, they have taken Christ out of Christmas…again.” The comment always comes as a disparaging criticism of the commercialization of Christmas as well as the completely secularized celebration of…
Because the personal injury lawyer, Tim Misny, has law offices all over Ohio, it is likely that many reading this blog have seen his large billboard signs. Misny’s very large, no nonsense, earnest-looking, billboard picture gets your attention. With his arresting picture – including his impressively ringed finger pointing aggressively right at you, Misny’s slogan…
There are many things to worry about in life. The worrying does absolutely no good. Regardless, we all have our various worries or perhaps better expressed, concerns. Sometimes our concerns have a way of sapping our enthusiasm for living or clouding our sense of wonder and thanksgiving for life in general. The award winning singer and…
On October 4th Antonio Guterres, General Secretary of The United Nations, addressed the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly. As a part of his address Guterres made these most sobering observations and warnings of challenges facing our world: “Social media platforms are based on a model that monetizes outrage, anger, and negativity and buys…
It is a most disturbing conundrum. In the 2020 Presidential election, 85 percent of white, evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump. They cheered his MAGA perspective on America, and participated – and in many cases promoted – the idolatrous “Trumpism” which surrounded, and continues to surround, him. In regard to having their support, it did not…