From last Sunday. As with most sermons, I wrote sparingly and then in the preaching the sermon expands, but I think this captures my primary thoughts. Proper 5, Year C, RCL 1 Kings 17:17-24 Luke 7:11-17 The Widows’ Sons – Why Not Mine? When I came back to services one […]
Death
132 posts
Last night Chelsea beat Benfico 2-1 in the UEFA Europa League Final. I watched it from a hotel room in Utrecht and the game was played just a short train ride away in Amsterdam Arena, where just 10 months ago Mack and I watched Ajax beat the Celtics 4-0. Needless […]
I don’t usually post the speech I give at the Medals Ceremony, but this time the message was a bit different. Good afternoon scholars, Parents, and friends, trustees, President Erickson and Provost Pangborn. Congratulations to you all! Each one of you has played a significant role in getting to this […]
Today I was talking with a colleague about another tragic death of a young person. The runner collapsed and died during the Pittsburgh Marathon apparently with a “coronary artery abnormality.” No one was to blame for his death. He was born with this condition, although he was unaware of it. […]
This wonderful poem was shared with us by Dan Sheerin on Mack’s site. It is “a Celtic soccer song by Irish poet Gabriel Fitzmaurice” and it is a poem of faith as well. The Game of Your Life Whatever way it’s kicked out, face the ball! While wingers await delivery […]
There have been so many times, especially early on, when I would think, hope for a moment that it had all just been a dream, that Mack was really asleep in the other room and would come in any minute and crawl in our bed. Now I begin to have […]
But the best one I can think of to explain what life is like surviving, “living beyond,” the death of our son. It is a bit like being forced to wear a pair of painful, ill-fitting shoes. They hurt like hell and make you limp, wince, and cry, but you […]
Death almost always brings with it the basic question of “why.” When it is young innocents as in the Sandy Hook attack or our son Mack, it becomes even more desperate. Even when those who are older who die for no clear moral reason we are at a loss for […]
As someone wondered if I was having a crisis of faith I was reminded of something that I have often mentioned in the class and in one or two articles, which is that expressing anger towards God is, in fact, a statement of faith. If I didn’t believe in God […]
It has barely been over one week since our wonderful boy died. It was fast, sudden, and completely unexpected. It was not an accident or a prolonged illness, but rather a bacterial infection of the blood. We are thankful for the small grace that he was in very little pain […]