the unlikely orange

note: i wrote these words back in 2017, after a series of tragedies.  you can see the original post here .  i have adapted these words to deal with the unthinkable gun violence perpetrated against people of color and children in our country in the last couple of weeks.  i share them here as a way to move us, as people of faith, to something more than just words, cynicism, or empty religious platitudes.    It has been a season of terrible tragedy.  And once again I have noticed in the news a trending phrase: thoughts and prayers.  It even has its own hashtag on twitter and other social media, but net necessarily in a good way.  People are understandably tired of hearing about others’ thoughts and prayers, when that is often only a thinly-veiled way of saying that our only obligation to those who suffer is a brief moment of silence, or nothing more than a tweet or public statement.  The truth is that, for those of us who follow Jesus, much is ...

"better together" mixed media (puzzle pieces, found papers, acrylic paint) on hardcover bookboard february, 2019 gregory a. milinovich i finished up my "better together" series a couple of weekends ago with this idea that we really need each other. honestly, it's that simple for me.  we need each other.   but that doesn't mean i'm always really good at it.  i shared an example in my sermon (which you can listen to here ), about my experience this last november going to vote.   i wanted to vote before work, and i had hoped that by going early i could just slip in and out quickly.  but unfortunately there was a long line.  and it was cold.  and on the verge of raining.  and i stood there in line without an umbrella or an overcoat over my suit.  i put on my headphones to listen to something, and pass the time, when (of course) it started to rain, lightly at first.  the man behind me tapped me on the sho...

"democrats and republicans" mixed media collage (acryclic paint, found papers, ink) on hardcover bookboard january, 2019 gregory a. milinovich as i continue to preach about what it means to be 'better together' in a culture in which we are deeply fractured, i preached last sunday about the political divisions that riddle our country.  left and right, red and blue, urban and rural: there are countless fault-lines of division that live in some sort of fearful tension of the quakes that might result should they really bump up against one another. one issue i see is that rather than discuss the issues and problems that our nation (or our states, cities, churches, etc.) faces with differing opinions and various ideas, we have instead chained ourselves to political parties, and what they seem to represent to us.  we make it our identity.  so, if hannity says something, we either agree with it or despise it, before he opens his mouth really.  same with madd...

"faceless immigrants 1-13" mixed media collage (found papers, acrylic paint, glue) on hardcover bookboard november, 2018 gregory a. milinovich i know that this is a divisive subject, and i don't mean to divide.  in fact, my sincere hope would be to build and connect.  but as i continue to glue things together in a way that expresses what is going on in my soul, i cannot help but deal with some of the discord i find there recently.   the news has been full of stories about immigration, asylum-seekers, and how we maintain borders.  these are complicated issues, to be sure, but one of the ways that i find myself struggling as i process the things i see and hear (or sometimes try to avoid seeing and hearing), is to remember that we aren't just talking about an issue here.   when we start painting in broad strokes and speaking in swaths of generalities, we deal in issues and policies and i understood that conversation at that level is...

lord, we are divided.  if the images on your tv screen of angry white men carrying tiki torches in charlottesville didn't demonstrate that to you, then the polarized response to it certainly did. not that this should come as a big surprise. after the election, we knew that there was a chasm between blue and red states and their corresponding voters. and while no oversimplified binary expression of extremes can ever fully paint the picture of who we are as individuals or groups, the way the extremes continue to attract movement to the polar caps of opinion shows just how divided we have become.  of course it doesn't help that we hear what we want to hear in news, social media, and even the marketplace (personalized ads online try to only show me what they know think i am already interested in).  further wedging the divide is the increasing inability to have civil discourse with those who believe/feel/live/love/look/vote differently than us.  when these factors con...

as a pastor, i constantly struggle with what it means to pastor people with passionate differences of opinion.  the congregations i have served have always been made up of both red and blue, black and white, gay and straight, conservative and progressive, passionate and apathetic, and so on and so forth.  in the midst of these differences, i wrestle with how to love and act and speak in a way that welcomes all of this diversity of belief and thought. when i find myself struggling with how to do this, my guide is always and ever Jesus. and Jesus had one pretty major rule (he called it a new commandment): "love one another as i have loved you." so on this day, when i am a bundle of emotions, and i find myself swinging between them freely and rapidly; when i find that i am blessed and humbled to be an american, but not nearly as proud as i have been before; when i see some of my facebook friends giving one another virtual high-fives, while others are openly weeping and...

i'm not sure how many americans right now are feeling optimistic about the government.  i know i'm not.  in fact, while i didn't live through the civil war or anything, i have to think that faith in our elected leaders - indeed the whole system of electing them in the first place - is at one of its lowest points.  i just don't have a great deal of confidence in those individuals who have been elected, or in those who want to be.  i find myself slipping at times into what feels like a swamp of apathy: sinking, to be sure, but not sure that i care enough anymore to do much about it.  i see this attitude all around me: in conversations, on social media, and in popular culture.  perhaps there is no more clear indication of our nation's view of the government than this current election season, when we would teeter on electing liars and thieves, crooks and clowns.  which is why i was so startled as i sat down to read psalm 72 this morning. as i read the...

if my sermon on sunday could be represented as a song, perhaps it would be this one by drew holcomb, who says, " 2016 has been a very confusing year for me. I wrote a new song about it called "Wild World". Here it is." love is all we've got to give away.  amen.

for our last day in the city, we had some time to kill before our appointment in the national archives, so we began in the east building of the national gallery of art.  while the boys thought this might be boring at first, they ended up loving the art museum, and were amazed at the size of some of the paintings, the realism in others, and the incredible color, creativity, and diversity throughout.  the museum really captivated their attention.  we didn't see the whole museum, by any means, but the impressionist rooms won my heart, as always.  i am always stopped in my tracks by van gogh, and i just can't stop gawking.  we were very glad we took the time to go to the art museum. when the time for our appointment arrived, we headed over to the national archives so that we could get a look at several important documents. first, we saw an original copy of the magna carta (700 years old!) in beautiful latin script.  then we made it to the rotund...

happy memorial day, a day we set apart to remember specifically that the freedoms and liberties we enjoy were bought at a price, and that price was paid in the currency of human lives.  even today, as we think about our way of life, we should recognize that when we abuse our freedoms, or take them for granted, we are devaluing that price and dishonoring that memory.  when we choose greed over commonwealth; when we choose comfort over justice for all; when we choose personal gain over public health; when we choose self over community and country; we forget the great gift we've been given and we shame ourselves. this land was never just for me.  it was always for us .  it was always about freedom from monarchy, freedom from legislated religion.  it left room for differences.  we seem to have forgotten that in our country today, when instead of welcoming the tired, the poor, and the hungry, we want to build walls and deport those who are different. ...

"You can't help wondering what would happen if a person running for the presidency decided to set politics in the flag-waving, tub-thumping, ax-grinding sense aside and to speak, instead, candidly, thoughtfully, truthfully out of his or her own heart. Suppose a candidate were to stand up before the reporters and the TV cameras and the usual bank of microphones and say something like this: 'The responsibilities of this office are so staggering that anybody who doesn't approach them with knees knocking is either a fool or a lunatic. The literal survival of civilization may depend on the decisions that either I or one of the other candidates make during the next four years. The general welfare and peace of mind of millions of people will certainly depend on them. I am only a human being. If I have my strengths, I also have my weaknesses. I can't promise that I'll always do the right thing for this country. I can only promise that it will always be this countr...

i'm not one for making political statements.  i make statements about what i believe God desires for us to do as disciples of Jesus, which always  falls into the categories of loving God completely and loving our neighbors freely.  but when it comes to supporting this politician or that one, i generally try and steer clear.  if you attended any church where i've been the pastor, you may hear me speak about issues when it involves our call to love (after all, Jesus made it clear that the only way others will know that we are his disciples is by our love in action), but you've never heard me endorse one candidate or another from the pulpit. in fact, i so much disdain being painted into a corner, that i refuse to be a part of either of our major political parties.  i'm not even an independent! i am a political "none," (which frees me from so much junk mail and rude phone calls, it is amazing!) meaning that i choose not to be associated with any political gro...

is this really how we want to honor those who gave their lives? happy memorial day!  it is a day to remember those who gave their lives in commitment and dedication to a set of ideals that included, at least, that people deserve to be free.  that sounds good on a bumper sticker with stars and stripes on it, but reality can be a bit more murky.  i mean, freedom is awesome, don't get me wrong.  but those who are most vociferously praising the sacrifices of soldiers whose lives have been so sadly stolen away too early are often the same ones who will be bemoaning what this nation has done with its freedom.  think about it, at least for today, of all days.  if you are proud of your freedom, and if you are thankful for those who have paid dearly for it, please consider how you are using it.  we don't honor the purchasers of our freedom with a yearly shopping spree and grillfest; that is merely making ourselves feel better, as if taking a day ...

to all my Christ-following friends, i see you.  i see your polarized reactions today.  i see you on facebook, some of you celebrating like your team just won the championship, and even more of you claiming doom-and-gloom and resorting to the "well, if it's God's will" theology that is so dangerous to kingdom-building.  yes, i see you.  and i want to challenge you.  both groups of you.  i want to challenge you to cut it out with the gloating and the pouting.  i want to urge you to remember that the decisions you make with the people around you and the neighbors who are sleeping under overpasses just outside your town and, yes, even those who are reading your facebook updates are so much more important than the ones you make behind a curtain with an 'x' in a box.  i want to remind you that your civic duty might be to vote, but your duty as a follower of Christ is to love your neighbor, even those you perceive as enemies....

today is your day, americans.  your day to prove the pundits wrong.  your day to shine in a country that has been darkened and dimmed by doomsday journalists from the left and the right.  today is your chance to vote without fear, without prejudice.  today is your day to reclaim your gratitude for democracy and surrender your need to be on a winning team.  today is your day to add your vote to the national storyline, and then sit back and see what happens. it's a day to put away name calling and finger-pointing.  it's a day to stop spinning and spewing vitriol.  it's a day to accept the collective will, and to recommit to doing your part to make our neighborhoods and communities better places.  today is a day to put our cynicism aside and dare to dream that real change really can happen, not because of one person in a big white house, but because of lots of people in houses just like yours.  today is our day to participate in something...

well, we are days away from election day.  as i think about the election, i've had this song running through my head.  it's by the lumineers, a folkish band from denver.  you may know their song "hey ho" from a bing commercial earlier this year.  this song has a part about a candidate, in addition to a boxer, a rock star, and a priest, but for some reason i just can't help but think of the pageantry of this whole election thing, and the production that campaigning has become.  when there is an acceptance speech it will be choreographed and soundtracked and scripted and the candidate will wave and smile real big for the photo ops.  it will be a nice big parade.  sigh.  Lovely girl won't you stay, won't you stay, stay with me All my life I was blind, I was blind, now I see Lovely girl won't you stay, won't you stay, stay with me All my life I was blind, I was blind, now I see Fleet of black, fleet of black limousines Ah tinted machines, here ...

-thanks to my dad for showing me this hilarious video of a man hoping to break the ice.  warning: i have no idea what is being said in german, but it may not be "oh fiddlesticks!  that smarts!"  -i saw on the news today that there was a baseball game last night.  weird, i thought the season had come to an end.  i guess, despite the argument many people continue to perpetuate, that money doesn't buy you world championships.  pitching and hitting (especially at the right times) wins you championships.   take that, yankee haters.  -when i'm at the gym in the morning, there is a fleet of morning shows being played on the wall of televisions.  from abc to nbc to cbs, from fox news to msnbc, and everything in between, i get to see the over-make-upped hosts spew vigorously about the news of the day, as well as anything else that might be anything ranging from interesting to sexy to salacious, in order to win a viewer or two (and thus an a...

-well, that stunk. sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear rips you apart limb from limb and sits and laughs at you while you flop around in pain.  yankees lose.  steelers lose.  (and worst of all) ravens win.  it was a fail the size of janikowski's gut.  -thank goodness my life doesn't revolve around sports.  after the game, i turned off the tv, and cuddled with my kids on the couch, before reading them bedtime stories.  nothing like a little perspective to help take the edge off.  -did you know that aardvark means earth-pig? -hahaha....i just had a political paragraph here, and then after i carefully wrote the whole thing, i deleted it because i knew that it would bring people out of the woodwork who would start shouting at me.  i just can't bring myself to do it.  even though i care very much, i just can't bring myself to participate in the online political discourse.  it is an arena in which i am unfit to par...

last year, upon the tenth anniversary of 9/11, i wrote these words.  as i reread them this morning one year later, i feel compelled to share them again.  they represent the deepest desires of my heart not just concerning that fateful day and the narrative that has followed, but about life as a whole, and my (and your) part in it.  i hope you'll read these words, nod enthusiastically where you agree, and be challenged by them to move beyond your comfort level.  i know i am.  -greg.   "six years later" paper collage on cardboard panel 2007 gregory a. milinovich tomorrow is, of course, the tenth anniversary of the terror attacks aimed at the united states and it's symbols of financial, military, and political power. while i may have nothing new to add to the conversation about this tragic event, i am nonetheless compelled to say something, as this story is one that will not let me go. each year i get out a file of news clippings and r...