on how to clean a crab

to borrow a line from the poet scott cairns, let’s pretend for now that there is no such thing as metaphor. you know, the ocean will just be the ocean, crabs will no longer have to be anything but crustaceans. we are walking with friends along a pier in halfmoon bay, two young couples with […]

listening is our act of love

how do we create conversations that matter? in a world of small talk, how do we go deeper? and, how did c.s. lewis do this well—creating conversations that have lasted more than 50 years after his death? those are the questions i was asked to speak on in portland last september. here’s how i answered… […]

when the bible doesn’t have the answer: responding to mental illness

when i was running up against a deadline for my contribution to the ongoing “when the bible doesn’t have the answer” feature in bible study magazine, struggling with what to write on, i asked my community here in berkeley. one of them suggested writing on scripture and mental illness. having walked beside several loved ones and, […]

all who hunger: food that endures

words i shared recently with our university ministry community in berkeley, for a series titled, “all who hunger.” i’ve known that I wanted to wrap up on this particular hunger since we started back in august. tonight’s theme is at the heart of what Jesus is talking about in john 6, the chapter we’ve been sitting […]

God’s great inside joke

a sermon i offered recently for the community at first presbyterian church of berkeley, based on luke 6:27–36: “but I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. if anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the […]

all who hunger: rest

i recently shared these words with our university ministry community in berkeley, for a series titled, “all who hunger.” if you haven’t been with us, welcome. we’ve been having some conversations this fall in a series we’re calling, “all who hunger,” where we’ve been asking, what are our deepest hungers? what are those hungers driving us? […]

all who hunger: (life-giving) community

i recently shared these words with our university ministry community in berkeley, for a series titled, “all who hunger.” we’re starting a new fall series where we’ve been asking, what are we most hungry for, in this season? and, are we living in a way that’s leading us toward satisfying those hungers? how can we help one […]

all who hunger: the God of physical hunger

i shared the following reflection with our university ministry community in berkeley, for a series titled, “all who hunger.” “centuries of secularism have failed to transform eating into something strictly utilitarian. food is still treated with reverence. to eat something is still more than to maintain bodily functions. people may not understand what that […]

when we say goodbye | in love with my own ruin

to love is to suffer and there can be no love otherwise. –fyodor dostoyevksy i’ve been thinking about and working on a book idea since finishing called: my journey to c. s. lewis’s house and back again. death and grief and the long process of saying goodbye is, unfortunately, part of our story. and in the […]

God’s (costly) new normal

the following is a sermon i recently offered on ephesians 3:7–13 at first presbyterian church of berkeley. I. “of this gospel i have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power” (ephesians 3:7). three weeks ago berkeley was overflowing with graduation celebrations: students […]