Blog

I love niche hobbies. Not necessarily that I participate in them, but they simply fascinate me. The sorts of sports/games/contests that seem banal and baffling are endlessly entertaining. I’ll give a couple of examples that I’ve enjoyed recently. Bear in mind that when I say niche, these are still t...

Merry Christmas! I think. Or at least, it is for me. What day is it? According to what the calendar says, we’re in that time of year where we stop saying “It’s too early for pumpkin spice!” and instead are firmly in the “Halloween already? It’s barely even fall!” phase. We’re long past the “Summe...

Last Sunday, in worship and beyond, we shared stories of times when we’ve seen Church at its best. I was able to hear a number of those stories, and I am so grateful for those stories I heard. It’s always good to be reminded of the good things that we’ve done and seen. It’s good to be reminded and i...

Last Sunday we celebrated the sacrament of communion in our fellowship hall. We gathered as a congregation around a table (with friends online and in-person) to share in the feast. On Sunday, I said this: “The bread used for the Lord’s Supper should be common to the culture of the congregation.” (PC...

I’m abandoning the lectionary for this week (sorry lectionary!) because I wanted to dig into how we can grow in our understanding of communion. For those who don’t know, the lectionary is a three-year cycle that lists a number of Bible passages each week. These passages are what I like to use in wor...

Friends, this whole blog experiment exists not out of any grand purpose, but as a chance for me to share whatever might be on my mind (under the assumption that my mind is part of the reason why you hired me in the first place). Sometimes you get your money’s worth, with deep and penetrating musings...

People exist through stories. We can describe ourselves using adjectives. We can evoke nuanced portraits with those adjectives. But we are more than the snapshot that adjectives can provide. We are built, from the day we open our eyes, on an ongoing, endless story. Every action we take, every decisi...

Last week I wrote about power, and how our pursuit and abuse of it leads to death and destruction. But that’s in human hands. This past weekend, I went to Niagara Falls. That is power. That is raw, unadulterated power that exists not to prop up its power, but because it is an irresistible force o...

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the maintenance of, hunger for, and empty coveting of power is perhaps the deepest root of sin as humankind. Power, sought for power’s sake, corrupts the one seeking power, and inures us all to the humanity that we seek power over. Because that’s what...

By means of prologue (at the risk of repeating myself): I spent a week as a volunteer chaplain at Camp Whitman, a summer camp on Seneca Lake. I’m still thinking about it, and will still be writing about it for at least this week. Who knows what next week will bring… Matthew 18:1-5 “At that...

Once again, I can’t express the gratitude I feel for the opportunity to serve as the chaplain of the week at Camp Whitman that this congregation has given me. I’ll probably be spending the next couple of weeks in this space reflecting on some of the things that I gleaned, so sit tight as it unfol...

Heads up, today’s post will deal with violence and human suffering. It will contain details that are difficult to hear. Proceed at your own discretion. I want to talk about the death penalty. It isn’t a topic that’s top-of-the-news, but it is one that chips away at me whenever it shows its face....

The unthinkable has happened! I think I’ve dried up my mental resources for writing about Artificial Intelligence. Not that I won’t ever come back to it, but I figured I’ll wait for inspiration to strike rather than try to force something. A few months ago, I wrote about the New York Times co...

I don’t mean to sound like Andy Rooney, but back in my day when you called customer service you would end up talking toa person. Nowadays it’s all, “Press three if you want to go to a menu you don’t want to go to,” or “Press one to press five to enter your party’s extension, but only if you know the...

The bulk of this post is more of an information update than a blog post, but in the spirit of recent pieces… I’m sure all of you have noticed that I’ve referenced the Beatles in two different sermons over the past four weeks. I suppose it’s providence that they are in the news again this week...

This news story from the New York Times made me laugh: The lawsuit began like so many others: A man named Roberto Mata sued the airline Avianca, saying he was injured when a metal serving cart struck his knee during a flight to Kennedy International Airport in New York. When Avianca asked a...

New York Times columnist Ezra Klein recently wrote an article that posed a thought experiment: "Imagine I told you in 1970 that I was going to invent a wondrous tool. This new tool would make it possible for anyone with access — and most of humanity would have access — to quickly communicate an...

I’m still writing about Artificial Intelligence! For the past few weeks (does it feel like years yet?) I’ve brain-dumped my thoughts about ethical use of AI, AI sentience, misinformation, AI impacts on jobs, and the value of having AI as your pastor. Heavy stuff! In each of these, I see...

As I’ve been reading about the rise of artificial intelligence, one common concern that has been coming up is that it will possibly create a massive disruption in the job market. Researchers from OpenAI have estimated that if these programs are widely adopted that “around 80% of the U.S. workforce c...

I was raised in a household that read comic books. I had my dad’s old Avengers comics and read them until they practically disintegrated. Because my dad had more Avengers comics than X-Men or Spider-Man, the team always was my primary allegiance. Most of my favorite heroes are Avengers; Hawkeye,...

It feels like everywhere I’ve turned the past few weeks I’ve seen articles about AI popping up. Most of them… not very optimistic. Just as a smattering of headlines: The Godfather of A.I. Leaves Google and Warns of Danger Ahead; What Exactly Are the Dangers Posed by A.I.?; Will a Chatbot Writ...

The conversation on AI continues. I’m like a dog with a bone, I just can’t stop with this thing. About a month ago, I wrote a reflection for our Maundy Thursday service. The reflection was a 500 (or so) word monologue about the last supper from the perspective of one of the disciples. Unfortunate...

Last week, I wrote about the emerging applications of Artificial Intelligence. This week is more of the same, because I’m absolutely fascinated by it. I want to also extend some gratitude to people who have responded to last week’s post. It’s given me a lot to think about and I love the dialogue. Do...

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a topic that has captured the attention of many people in recent years. As for myself, I am incredibly curious about the potential that AI holds and its impact on our world. It's amazing to think about how AI is already integrated into many aspects of our lives, fr...

Holy Week is an interesting time for pastors. A pastor friend of mine posted a link to Facebook giving a pastor’s survival guide to Holy Week. It’s a helpful list of ways to stay sane in a week that is both exhausting and exhilarating. Take some time off, keep a list of things you wis...