When they sang together, you could hear the harmony that should define this country’s relationships across race.

  The bodhisattva has one pair of hands at rest. One pair of hands is praying. 500 pairs of hands are acting in

Wading out of a hard time is awful. But it’s really all we can do. There is no panacea. No miracle fix. No post-it note on the side of a monitor—“take time to notice what is right”—will instantly un-funk a funk.

We look happy. And we are. But when a friend called this morning and was like, “great photos of you and Eric this weekend!” and all I could think was, you have no idea what shit-show this week has been for me.

Christmas is a season of lights... And a season to become enlightened…. To notice and amplify the light that shines within us all, revealing inner wisdom and guidance for our lives. 

Why not at least integrate working on gratitude as our routine attitude during “the season” this and each year —and continue our practice into each new day of the fresh year?

This week’s reading is a Sunday school children’s favorite — the story of Zacchaeus, a tax collector who climbs a tree to see Jesus.

I assure you I am well, content, and thankful to God for this extension of my ministry. Thank you for your interest, comments, correspondence, and contributions. I am grateful to Metropolitan Community Churches for recognizing this blog as an “Emerging Ministry” and ProgressiveChristianity.org for reposting many of my reflections, as well as the dozens of Facebook pages that allowed me to provide links to particular posts.

As violence and division erupt here at home and around the world, we are forced again to ask of ourselves: who are we? What is the essential nature of human beings? Are we inclined to do good, or are we bound to pursue what might be named evil? Good, or bad? A seemingly simple question but one that drags in its wake a multitude of ramifications that are not so simple.

Do you also tell yourself that you don’t have the right to be upset when you are upset? What if, instead, we trained ourselves on compassionate self-talk?

For all of you grieving the loss of someone you love — whether this loss occurred last week, last year, or decades ago — I hope you find some comfort in these words, too. I hope you have the courage to tell the truth about your loved one: the good, the bad, and the complex. And that you don’t break faith with the full spectrum of your feeling, from mourning to dancing.

Amanda Gorman mesmerized a nation with her inauguration poem "The Hill We Climb." The beauty of her presence and the power of her words captured a country battle-scarred and looking for a lifeline.

Can prayers be narcissistic? A great many prayers are in the first person, like the laments in the Psalms. “God help me, rescue me, forgive me, heal me” are typical petitions in the first person. But praying for oneself can become narcissism when concern for oneself supersedes loving our neighbors. 

For many people, and certainly for the business community, the Christmas season is over by New Years day. But the traditional Christian calendar actually extends Christmas until January 6, which begins the season of Epiphany. Hence, the “Twelve days of Christmas” as enumerated in the popular song.

"When someone tells me that they believe the Bible is the literal and inerrant word of God, I always ask, "Have you ever read it?" ~ Bishop John Shelby Spong

Larry says that good people never think they are doing enough. Maybe you don’t have to be brilliant today, either.

Often, the simplest things in life are not things that are made, built, or created by humans. I recently heard about the joy of watching deer run from pond, to field, to hill, to pond – dancing with joy.

I hold in my consciousness two previously unimaginable opposites; on the one hand the possible even likely extinction of humanity and on the other, the potential for our unimaginable birth of a new embodied divine humanity, the mutation realized and resplendent.

As the coronavirus burst upon the scene, I realized that climate change was only one of a new “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” The storied marauders of old – death, plague, war and famine – had morphed into the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, uncontrolled population growth, and the unraveling of modern civilization.

A meditation for Peaks and Professors students at USC - with Rev. Jim Burklo, Sr Associate Dean, Office of Religious Life, University of Southern California

But like all things – life finds a way. I took my ennui and fogginess, I watched what was going on around the world, and decided the complete “grayness” I was feeling was to be my focus. But I was tired of feeling gray – you know that disheartened, powerless, helpless, frozen kind of feeling?

Tell your drama and listen to others. Teach each other to to live out loud. Be a drama addict with me and we will heal, living what is real – in service to all. We will each spring forth, being wonderfully dramatic, writing renewed lives filled with sheer joy and light.

In an article I posted to Facebook shortly after reading, that tells us the oceans are heating up at a rate equal to five Hiroshima bombs being dropped into them every second. No. I did not want to learn that this week, but I did.

Early Sunday morning before Christmas I learned that my first long term partner had died. It took me by surprise and grabbed me in the gut. I wanted to talk to somebody about it, but I didn’t think anyone could understand. So I’m talking about it with you, the reader of this blog.

As we wrap up our financials for 2019, we’d like to express our gratitude for your support during our Year End Fundraising Campaign! We were able to reach 50% of our year end goal with a total amount of $35,500. You can still help us get closer by donating this month.

I have never liked Luke 6:20, which says “Congratulations, you poor!” in newer translations. I think that’s demeaning.

I want to give some thought to one of the most often invoked rituals in Christian and secular circles, namely giving of thanks. Thanksgiving, depending on the bible translation, is used about thirty-five times in the bible. The word “thanks” counts over a hundred times. Thank, thanked, thanking, thankful, thankfulness and thankworthy, all are used in some translation of the bible.

After over twenty-five years as an active board member and nearly fifteen years as President, I’m passing the baton to the next generation. I couldn’t be more excited! I’m grateful for our leadership and staff and the vision they have for where this movement needs to go. As a fellow donor, it is to you that I extend my gratitude. You have helped co-create and sustain this wonderful organization that is changing the world for the better.

We need your support to continue sharing with the world a compassionate, informed, vital, and world changing Christianity. 

When you give to ProgressiveChristianity.org, you help us provide resources to a growing global community of pastors and neighbors who no longer fit into the modern box of ‘Christianity.’ With just 3 weeks left to give, here’s another reason why your gift matters: