The Shining Sun

  In my book, For Pastors Only: Dealing with Rejection in Ministry, I wanted to explain, first to my daughters, why I was baffled by the tendency of others to blow out others’ candles so that the remaining light candles were perceived to be brighter. This is what I wrote in my introduction: “Baffled. In a word, “baffled” . That's the best way I can describe my frustration at what I've seen in the Church. Other words like “disappointment” , “disillusionment” and even at times “depression” have described my emotional state when I dared to look behind the curtains and discovered the inner workings of the life of a church. What truly plays out behind the scenes in the life of a church? I've seen it from the position of a janitor working at several churches; as a board member serving the church; a volunteer in many active ministries of a church; as the pastor of a church; as the spouse of a wife who pastored three churches; and as an adult missionary serving with our famil...

      For years, I have lived with “personally minded” individuals in churches who genuinely believed that if they blew out my candle then their candles would burn brighter. My book, For Pastors Only: Dealing with Rejection in Ministry , is a memoir of my life centered around the theme of rejection. How to cope with it.  How to deal with it.  How to overcome it.  How to learn from it.  Even how to benefit from it to help others through negative life experiences. Two selections of George Bernard Shaw’s insights on life are combined into a literary piece called “A  Splendid Torch”. “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. And also the only real tragedy ...

  I love candles.   I love making tea light candle holders and special lantern holders just to have a reason to light more candles in my home. My love for candles was created long before the exotic scented candles had become popular.   My earliest memories of smelling burning wax go back to those days when a storm knocked out our electrical power in our home.   Instant darkness. A quick scramble for the kitchen drawer that held the candlesticks and the matches. Seeing that candle flicker to light brought immediate relief. As more candles were lit more shadows were dissipated. So I have always been baffled by some people's tendency to blow out other people's candles so that their candles would burn so much brighter. A current internet meme is: “Blowing out someone else’s candle doesn’t make yours shine any brighter.” In a purely pragmatic sense, this statement is true.   The amplitude of the light of a single candle does not increase as other candles in...

Well, my original intent for this blog got hijacked by a desire to write a book.  A book about my life.   As a memoir to leave from my family. Something my grand kids and great-grand kids can read long after I am gone.  Every wonder what your grandparents were like?  You've heard stories passed down to you.  But you would really like to  have your grandfather or grandmother telling you in his or her own words.  In the process of writing, I gained a whole new understanding of myself.  The book morphed into a project that expanded well beyond a simple memoir.  I still have not written a title for the book even though I am 80,000 words into writing it.  The book has taken on a life of its own.  I am sure the title will present itself at the appropriate time.

An American Christian I have for some time wanted to write.  These wonderful ideas enter my mind and I think they are worthy of being written down.  So I do.  They are scattered far and wide in multiple notebooks, loose-leaf papers, and various Word documents saved on the computer.  Recently, I realized that I had to create a place to share my thoughts, views, and musings for me to commit to stating clearly the pondering of my heart.  As you can see in my profile, much of what I have been processing has to do with reconciling my identity as an American with my identity as a Christian. Most of my friends, peers, and colleagues don't see a need to do this.  They have no problem being both an American and a Christian as easily as you and I breath air.  I am wired differently. I lived in another country, Costa Rica, with my family for four years.  While there I realized that many of my views of life were locked in and limited by my upbring...

The Sun in my face Celebrating God’s Grace No better place to be In the darkest of night No light in sight I am my Father’s delight Depending on Him in good times and bad Makes my Father’s heart glad