Breathe in Suffering, Breathe out Love

When we breathe, we take in oxygen and put out carbon dioxide. When a tree “breathes,” it takes in carbon dioxide and puts out oxygen. From our point of view, the tree inhales waste and exhales what we need to take in. This is the image that came to mind when I heard American Buddhist …

You Are Not a Disgrace to Women. BUT.

This Facebook post has been making the rounds the last few days. I’m not sure who the original author is, as people have been copying and pasting it into their status (which led me to believe that someone I know had written it until I caught on). I wanted to respond to it at the time, …

What the Lord Requires

This sermon was preached at Centenary United Methodist Church in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Sunday, January 22, 2017. The text was Micah 6:1-8. The setting is a courtroom. The defendant is Israel. The witnesses are the mountains and the foundations of the earth. The plaintiff, prosecuting attorney, judge, and jury is God Almighty. There is no way …

I Admit It: I Am a Musician.

My public singing debut came at the age of four. I sat on top of the piano my dad played as I serenaded the audience of our church’s talent show with a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Before long, I was immersed in the world of church and school choirs and musical productions. I …

Speaking to the Head and the Heart

In his memoir, Born a Crime, South African comedian Trevor Noah told the story of an unexpected encounter he had in a jail cell. Arrested for driving an unregistered car from his stepfather’s mechanic shop, Trevor was very much out of place in the jail. He was trying to come across as the tough guy to …

Believing the Good News in the Era of Fake News

The wise men enter the stable somberly, anticipatory music building in the background. Bejeweled and looking very wise indeed, they carry their gifts and approach the child in the manger with his mother sitting by. They kneel and offer their praise and homage to the infant: “We worship you, O Brian, who are Lord over …