Quest Blog
Spiritual Drought & Restoration
2012-06-04 I have to be mindful of the baskets of flowers that hang below the eaves. Even though it has rained for four days, the eaves have sheltered the flowers from the rain. This means that though the road is washed out and water sits upon the ground with no where to go, even though…
Read MoreA Case For Religion
2012-06-05 A growing number of people in the United States define themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” Study after demographic study shows that this segment of our population is rising steadily, as people growing up in a pluralistic society reject the rigid dogma that they associate with “religion.” Maybe you’re someone who has claimed this…
Read MoreSummer and Sabbath
2012-06-06 My thirteen-year-old daughter and I have different ideas about what it is that she will be doing with her summer vacation, which will be upon us in a few days. I think that the summer before she enters high school would be a good time to get a jump start on subjects she finds…
Read MoreHuman Kindness
2012-06-08 Imagine this: The day is hot and the line at the gas station is long. After all, it’s the least expensive gas in town. I pull in behind a tan Toyota, tired and dusty – ready to fill up my gas tank and make my way home. Only the Toyota isn’t moving. The Toyota…
Read More“I didn’t say it was fair, I said it was the law.”
2012-06-10 I asked my ex, my partner of almost twenty years from whom I separated three years ago, the co-parent of a teenaged kid, to attend a $14 community education session with me and update our wills. We had spent thousands of dollars asserting, in two different states, that we were in fact related to…
Read MoreAsking for Wonder
2012-06-13 For as long as I can remember, I have striven to be successful. Even in the earliest years of school, I wanted to be first in my class, whether or not I actually learned anything. As an adult, I have sometimes cherished the prestige of a position more than I have been satisfied by…
Read MoreImprov to Improve
2012-06-16 I recently participated in a church board of trustees’ retreat in which a congregant, Travis Ploeger, lead us in some improv exercises in the style of his work with the Washington Improv Theater. It was challenging and fun to be a part of a group stepping a little out of its collective comfort zone…
Read MoreSaying Goodbye
2012-06-19 A few years ago, a member of my congregation with a background in science asked me why, in his words, “so many people insist that there’s some kind of life after death?” I don’t think he was prepared for my response, which was to say that it’s because there is. I believe that that…
Read MoreFear and Love at Tent City
2012-06-24 There is a protest at Tent City tonight, the place where Sherriff Joe Arpaio holds thousands of immigrants in his self described ‘concentration camp.’ Where there is never any relief from the Arizona heat, where humiliation is a daily occurrence. I’m with my people, in our bright yellow Standing on The Side…
Read MoreProfessionalism and Pluralism in the Military Chaplaincy
2012-05-07 In the fall of 2011 I was honored to attend the first ever OutServe Leadership Conference. This was the first time for this organization of LGB persons actively serving in the military to gather publicly, since such public gatherings and recognition was made possible by the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Harass,…
Read More