From the Rev

Dear Friends,

Most of you know that I have had prostate cancer. I had surgery in 2009 believing (hoping and praying) they “got it all.”  Apparently they didn’t, so in 2013 I had 38 radiation treatments believing (hoping and praying) that would do the trick. Since then I have been checking my PSA at least three times a year. Last fall the numbers started rising again, giving me cause for concern. I was tested in January, and the number remained the same. Again in May it remained the same. Last week I had another test, and the number actually went down! The number still isn’t where I would like it to be but ‘stable’ works just fine for me!… more

Dear Friends,

Can you believe it’s August already? Only twelve days until summer ends. Yes, I know summer doesn’t officially end until September 21st, but for most of us summer really ends when school starts and we get back into work and our familiar routine and lean into the busyness of the fall season with all its new beginnings….more

Dear Friends,

Shakespeare, in The Merchant of Venice, writes: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?”

Are you busy? Of course you are. Everyone is busy these days. I checked my watch the other day hoping to see 13 or 14 o’clock…but alas, it wasn’t there. I just needed a few more hours to get through all that I had to do. Because, you see, I’m busy. I’ve very busy and maybe if I could extend the day an hour or two then I just might be able to squeeze in everything I needed to accomplish so that, finally, I would be…well…less busy. Right?…more

Dear Friends,

It’s graduation time. Do you remember the advice you were given at your graduation? Neither do I. Advice is as common as pollen in Tallahassee in the spring. I sure don’t remember any of the ‘wisdom’ imparted to me when I graduated from high school, college and seminary. So I thought I’d share a few thoughts on what I wish someone had said to me as I went, excited and anxious, into the undiscovered place of my new future…more

Dear Friends,

Here is something I’ll bet you didn’t know: It’s good to get dirty. Recent research has discovered a strain of bacterium in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, that has been found to trigger the release of serotonin, which in turn elevates a happy mood and decreases anxiety. And on top of that, this little bacterium has been found to improve cognitive function and possibly even treat cancer and other diseases. Which means that contact with the soil, through gardening or other means, is beneficial….More

Dear Friends,

From the responses I have heard from last week’s “From The Rev” it sounds like I’m not the only one doing a lot of weeding. And not just weeds in our gardens but weeds in our lives. It’s important to do that kind of weeding on a regular basis so the weeds don’t choke out the good things of life. ….more

Dear Friends,

Spring is here! The azaleas and dogwood are in full bloom! The drake elm and redbud trees are bursting with new green leaves! And every car in Tallahassee is yellow!…more

Continuing on last week’s theme of seeing the beauty right in front of you, I decided to get outside the office yesterday and take a walk around the block. As you will see in the pictures below, Spring was bursting into bloom all around me. I saw lots of people on my jaunt, although most of them didn’t see me because their heads were looking down at their smart phones. I got kind of excited when a woman came toward me with a big smile on her face saying something to me….but then I realized she wasn’t talking to me at all but was talking into the bluetooth device hooked around her ear….more