the unlikely orange

these are photos i took of a tree just outside warriors mark, pa. the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. we all see a great deal of lights these days. i'm headed into manhattan tonight for a worship service, and i can already feel the glow of a million bulbs, and army of brilliance, sent to me to shine me in to buying something. our towns and cities and televisions are afire with the allure of light and lamp and lumen. we are tucked so comfortably in constant light that we have forgotten about the darkness just there on the edge of the florscence. we have forgotten about the shadow. but if we were to stand really still: if we were to stop opening our cell phones. if we were to stop the incessant button-pushing. if we were to to remove our earbuds and just stand still for long enough, we would re-discover that the rhythm of life includes day and night. and if we were still enough to be covered in shadow, for once, we would see how badly we need the light. as ad...

BELATED not only was thanksgiving last thursday, but so was my sister's birthday. since i was in warrior's mark, pa, where they have only recently been introduced to inventions such as the wheel, the cotton gin, and fire, computers are not allowed. if you are caught with a computer you are literally put in the stocks in the town square (the one with the stop sign), so people can laugh at you when they go to the uni-mart to purchase their chewing tobacco. my point here is that i have been "out of pocket" (a phrase meaning, at least in some geographies, that i have been unreachable) for the last several days and haven't had a chance to post about my poor beloved sister's birthday. sorry, julie. but here it is. belated. so, thursday was julie's 26th birthday. not only is she my younger sister, but she is also a middle child, which means the torment to which she was subjected during the earlier years of her life and that continues to this very day is worse tha...

a (grateful) acrostic amazing, all these blessings. carved and cut, this turkey reminds me of the richness of my life. dazzled, even if only for today, i open my eyes to the efflorescence of my life: family and friends, and others, who have grown to love me, so often in spite of me; who have forgiven me and moved me and touched me and changed me and inspired me. juxtaposed against my complaints and whines, and the grudges i keep, the largesse of my blessedness is laughable. more than laughing, though, i am bent with shame, nearly nauseous at the obvious disparity in my blessedness and my poverty at being a blessing. quite overcome with the weight of this, i reel and rock, but barely move. why am i seemingly so stuck in this stagnant apathy? what does it mean, really, to be thankful without also being active , unsatisfied with the fat of accumalated blessedness, vehemently committed to blessing others, where and whenever they appear? eXactly nothing, i expect, and yet, what will i do,...

happy birthday, grandma vich yesterday, november 21, would have been my grandma's 87th birthday. she died about a month ago, after a long battle with alzheimers. i have wonderful memories of my grandma, and i carry in my very dna part of who she is. part of who she is is part of who i am. that's part of the mystery of this crazy life, isn't it? i don't get to chose, really. i just get born and so much is already decided for me. part of what was decided for me was that i would carry with me some of the fiesty-ness, some of the love of searching for what is right, some of the attention to detail (some call it being anal) that was part of who grandma was. and so, i celebrate her birth and even her death, but mostly i celebrate her life. and as i celebrate her life, i can't help but affirm in my own self those things that, whether she meant to or not, she gave to me. thank you, grandma. peace. grateful. grandson. greg.

reveal... so i spent the last four and a half days at the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers' Convention in cincinnati. i certainly went into it hoping to get some good fellowship with some folks and maybe a few good ideas for ministry, but i got so much more. first of all, it was a weekend in a hotel (the hilton) without many responsibilities, including caring for our son, who was being spoiled rotten by his grandparents in monongahela, pa. so, without the sounds that an almost two-year old makes, i was able to find some space for quiet and reflection. that was really the great blessing of the whole thing for me: the chance to listen. the theme for the convention was "reveal" and was symbolized by the presence of several statues that hadn't quite been finished; they were only partially carved out of the stone. for me, the idea was just to be quiet enough that i could hear God's revealing God's self to me. it was a weekend of prayer and listening. but it...

just a short little post today to say that i won't be around for the next several days. we're headed out to cincinnati for the national youth workers convention. i get to hear don miller again, and david crowder is leading us in worship, so i am pretty excited about that. not only that, but i found a steelers bar in downtown cincinnati, so i can watch the game sunday against the browns. it should be a great weekend. we're dropping jack and max at the grandparents and staying at the hilton right next to the convention center. this is the closest thing we'll have to a vacation in a while, so we are going to enjoy it, and hopefully learn and find some inspiration as well. so anyway, i will talk to you when i get back. things i like about cincinnati: kings island. over the rhine. things i don't like about cincinnati: the bengals. the reds. greg.

Happy Birthday, Mom! Today, November 13th, is my Mom's birthday. She turned 39 today! Happy Birthday, o one who birthed me. And by birthed i mean grunted and pushed me out of a tiny orafice after carrying me around in your torso for 9 long months, in a bloody watery mess. saying 'thank you' just doesn't seem to cover it. but thank you anyway. i think it was worth it. my mom has just recently discovered the blogosphere and, after a little urging, found the courage to comment, although it seemed to cause a great deal of stress. nonetheless, she figured it out and, as you might have seen, has been leaving her 2 cents here on her son's blog (good job, mom). as always, she is up for the challenge. mom is a high school english teacher, a mother of 3 bratty children, a wife to a complete science nerd who is also a pastor, an avid reader, and the proudest grandma i have ever seen. i love the above picture of her because it shows her fun side. it was taken at kennywood last...