Why I Go to Church

Last night I took my wife to a concert in Boston. It was her Christmas present, finally come to fruition, and we both left work early to make the drive/pilgrimage to the House of Blues to see her favorite band, Walk Off the Earth. The concert was standing-room-only, which I thought would be fine because […]

The Salvational Power of Giving

The last time I was depressed (and I mean really depressed) I lost almost everything. I don’t talk about that year very often, because I would much rather be funny and uplifting and joyous. But it happened, and I could start to feel it happening again. I quit Facebook and social media. I stopped blogging […]

Never Stopped Looking Up

They say that you can instantly tell who the tourists are in any city by noticing who is looking up and who is looking down. The residents of the bustling metropolis have seen all the sights a million times, and their faces are firmly positioned down as they hurry off to wherever they are going […]

What It’s Really Like Living in Cooperative Housing

5 years ago my wife saw an online ad for an apartment in a housing co-op. We had no idea what cooperative housing was, but we needed a place to live and we couldn’t afford much, so we answered the ad. Yesterday I handed in my keys, thus ending what I would previously have called one […]

I Ain’t Afraid of No Reboot

Yesterday I had an opportunity to preach in church about my favorite movie, and the new reboot of said movie. As is my tradition, here is the transcript of the message: I had been waiting for them to make Ghostbusters 3 since 1989, ever since I walked out of the theater with my father having […]

The Divided Kingdom – Brexit, Trump, & the United Methodist Church

Yesterday our cousins over in England voted to cut themselves off from their neighbors and leave the European Union in what is now know as the Brexit. This decades-long exercise in cooperation and tolerance has come to an end for the people of England, formerly of the United Kingdom. I say formerly of the United […]

Engaging Activities for Young Children in Music Class

I am spending most of this week at church, teaching music to a bunch of 4-10 year-olds at Vacation Bible School. This is why my posts are coming later than usual. This is why I am making sad faces at perpetual morning person Rumple Station from 8 AM to at least 10:15. But we have […]

What My Kids Did When I Told Them We Were Moving

Did I mention that we were moving? No, I didn’t, because it was not public knowledge until quite recently. But now that it has been announced in the church’s annual report and I have had several congregation members ask me about it, I feel safe to finally announce that next month we will be leaving […]