I often tell folks that the most important and useful training I received for ministry came from my days as an opera stage manager and production coordinator. Seminary certainly taught me a great deal about theology, exegesis, and history, but doing triple rep in an opera company taught me about the power of patterns. Patterns are everywhere and yet they can often be elusive to discern. On the other hand, it is also pretty easy to establish a new pattern and it can be trans

“You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” – Anne Lamott I recently got to live-tweet the final dress rehearsal for San Francisco Opera’s new opera, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene by Mark Adamo. For the record, I like this new work in many ways and I am completely smitten by the performance of Sasha Cooke in the title role. I’m looking forward to seeing it again as part of our season tickets. But I

Like most folks who work in the arts, I hate auditions. Spend a little bit of time with an actor, singer, or dancer and you’ll get a wagon-load of horror stories under the category “auditions”. It’s not much fun to be on the “other” side of the audition process either, sitting for hours watching terrified humans parade before you trying to show you their very best under lousy circumstances. The horror of it as a director/music director/producer is that you know almost inst

The miracles of the church seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears can hear what is there about us always. – Willa Cather, (1873 -1947) U.S. novelist, poet and journalist. Growing up on the southern plains in the Texas panhandle, I have always appreciated the insights of Willa Cather. What she describes in such

This past Sunday was in the midst of Memorial Day weekend and in between all the grilling, drinking, graduations, and festivities, I spent some time thinking about freedom. It is a regular part of the vocabulary when talking about sacrifices made by members of the American military to speak of the “fight for freedom”. And I am grateful for their service and faithfulness to our nation. Still, there are other ways to “fight” for freedom. In my sermon at Mira Vista United Chu

On a personal note: I never intended to become an actual blogger who got comments from folks beyond my normal sphere of activity. I really appreciate all the wonderful discussion that continues to take place concerning my first “off -the-cuff” piece about the San Francisco Symphony strike. I am especially moved to hear from classical musicians around the world who are hopeful that their San Francisco colleagues can prevail in this situation. Still, my crackpot theory is t

For the past few days, I have found myself increasingly depressed and angry over the general reaction to the strike by the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony. I have observed via social media and in person a variety of people refer to these top flight musicians as “whiners” because they make @$165,000 per year. Such comments are usually followed by, “I wish I made that much money.” Well, you might if you were at the TOP of your profession, although in virtually every

You must give birth to your images. They are the future waiting to be born . . . fear not the strangeness you feel. The future must enter into you long before it happens . . . just wait for the birth . . . for the hour of new clarity. – Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926 When Jesus advises us to “become as a child”, I think this is part of the invitation: to re- imagine how life might be in the future and even learn to play – like children – with our lives. It is so easy to get

Today is the feast day for St. John of the Cross – one of the great mystics of the Christian tradition. The mystical tradition has been of great help to me in my journey of faith. Even if you haven’t read much of John’s poetry, you may have heard the phrase, “dark night of the soul”. Thomas Merton writes of John: No one can become a saint without solving the problem of suffering. No one who has ever written anything, outside the pages of Scripture, has given us such a solut

We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture? Then, then, is the fullness of time: When the Son of God is begotten in us. Meister Eckhart, 14th century