A Leap of Faith

Less than one in a thousand of us has February 29 for a birthday. This date comes only around every 4 years.

It takes 365 days plus almost six more hours to make a full orbit around the sun, so we get a quarter day behind every year. Back in the time of Julius Caesar (46 BCE) astronomers added an extra day to the calendar every four years to catch up. But that extra day actually gives us more time than we deserve,

Suffering and Hope

Today my wife and I hung a new painting on our wall.

With bright acrylic colors it depicts a brown rocky landscape, green hills and a bright blue river rushing out of the hills towards you. Its title is 'Ceaseless Hope'.

I love it for the colors and the title and the story behind the painting.

On Being Loved

There isn't a day of our lives when love doesn't matter. We are relational creatures. We flourish by love, giving and receiving it, by loving and being loved.

Many poets have woven words to express the exquisite gift of love. Among my favorites are  -
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning's How Do I Love Thee? Let me Count the Ways.
• William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116,
• Sara Teasdale's "The Kiss" and
• Rainer Maria Rilke's "Along the Sun-Drenched Roadside"

But for my beloved on this our sixth Valentine's Day here is a selection of lines from the Song of Songs -

On Becoming A Grandfather

Ten years ago today, Justin did something very special for me.

He made me a grandfather.

Becoming a grandfather is one of life's significant milestones – at least it was for me. It marked a mystical moment.

On Being a Father

A few years ago, a grateful son wrote about his father,

A dad have I who is not perfect, never played for Yankees strong,

Feats and features cannot measure what it takes to be a man.

Fosbury’s bar will yet be raised by hopefuls and by champions

Yet ‘tis Redmond’s race that I remember

The father running to the son.

Redmond, of course was Derek Redmond, Britain’s record-holder in the 400-meter sprint. In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, he was favored to win gold. But half-way through his semi-final race
Redmond snapped his hamstring and collapsed to the ground as the competition raced past him.

On Being a Pastor

When my wife’s friends heard that she was planning to marry a pastor, they cringed. They feared she would lose her vibrancy and relevance. In fact, I think her zest for life has made me a better pastor.

I love being a pastor. It challenges and stretches me and brings me deep joy. I would be a pastor even if nobody paid me to do it; it’s what I’m wired up to be.

The term 'pastor' comes from the world of sheep-herding, from biblical prototypes like Moses and David who made their living tending sheep and later became effective national leaders. Some pastors I know are kingdom-builders, dynamic visionaries, mobilizers and history-makers; others guide and shape souls one-by-one. Like teachers we’re largely catalysts in the God-energized growth of others.