The Mind of the Minister As the story goes, someone once asked Michaelangelo how he managed to create his massive statue of David. “I took a big block of granite,” he replied, “and chipped away anything that wasn’t David.” The story exists in many variations. Usually the artist remains nameless. Most of the time, it’s a statue ...

Paying Attention on Purpose My favorite definition of mindfulness comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn, professor emeritus of medicine and creator of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn says that mindfulness is: “Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally … ...

Moving Into Covenant I want to send a big “thank you” to all of you who took time out to participate in one of our Covenant Team’s small group listening circles. These groups were an opportunity for the team and I to get a snapshot of the congregation’s attitudes about and readiness for a covenanting process. ...

(Reverse) Resolutions Happy New Year! It’s an arbitrary arrangement of time, but much like the winter solstice it arrives with a promise of renewal and return, an opportunity to try something new, or break patterns and habits we’d rather leave behind – what I like to call “the Great Cosmic Do-Over.” Historically, these intentions for growth and change ...

STALKING THE WILD CHRISTMAS TREE Confession time: I don’t like autumn. There’s less daylight. The garden is naked. My mood seems to worsen as the air chills. By daylight savings time, just getting out of bed has become an Olympic event. I am not always a gold medalist. Some days, I don’t even pass the qualifying ...