In the late 1700’s when Napoleon’s forces were invading Austria, the small town of Feldkirch was getting ready to celebrate Easter day when they heard word that the French forces were just outside of the town limits. A town council was soon called to discuss what to do. One member of the council made an…

Would you like to be locked up for a little bit? I confess that the idea sounds somewhat appealing to me some days. Being locked up with no access to obligations like some meetings, email, and the mundane things of life sounds alright. Of course, I could probably get the same effect with better food…

I’ve always been attracted to doing something new. I just got off a phone call with a guy who was telling me about his new idea to get something up and going in our church body, and I’m super excited for the possibilities that he and I were talking about. I love that moment of…

The advent of writing was an important step in human development as it triggered the ability for us to communicate an an asynchronous fashion. That means that I’m typing this message to you maybe hours, maybe days before you read it, but it’s available for you whenever you do read it. You have to wait…

This week Tesla is recalling some fifty-four thousand of its cars because its “Full Self Driving” software has been rolling the cars through intersections with stop signs without making a full and complete halt. This is not a goof in the software, it is a “feature” that Tesla has been programming into its software allowing…

Imagine an older man writing to a younger one. He’s giving advice, perhaps a little bit of exhortation. The younger man isn’t so young any more, at least not as young as when he first me the old man, his mentor. Back then the younger man listened to the old man because the young man…

Today I get to meet with FSU’s new president, Dr. Richard McCullough. The big question on my mind? Will we find favor with him?  The meeting is a meeting of the Interfaith Council, the gathered and specifically approved religious and faith-based groups at Florida State University. Thankfully we have been granted an audience with President…

Our family television has this feature that when we turn on the tv or back out of a streaming service, we see some pictures from my Google Photos account. Our family loves to see the pictures and comment on the growth and the memories. As a kid, I used to love to look back at…

This coming Sunday is Gaudete Sunday, which around University Lutheran is known as “Pink Candle Sunday.” So far I have succeeded in my liturgical reform concerning this Sunday by getting at least 50% of our worshipers to show up for this Sunday wearing pink (or something gaudy). I’m hoping for 75% this year. The notion…

This coming Sunday ends our “Done by Hope” annual focus year. It seems hard to believe that we started this church year off in the calendar year 2020. Over the past year we have engaged quite a bit in our hopes. The name “Done by Hope” came from a quote from Martin Luther. Luther said…