Posts by Rory Naeve (Page 5)
Who Are You?
Let’s play a little game. I’m going to ask you one question. Who Are You? We would start with our names of course, but then what? Most likely, your occupation. I’m a pastor, I’m a teacher, I’m an engineer, I’m a student. But that’s your job, that’s not who you are. So, who are you? You might say that you love watching football or you’re a glorified taxi driver for your…
MLK
My oldest daughter has raised her level enough to start making me pause in conversation. It used to be that I could get by with answering simple questions about colors or direction or who the is band on the radio (Led Zeppelin, sweetheart – thanks be to God) or what the word “reveal” means. You can just answer those kinds of questions. They’re facts – just the facts,…
God WITH Us
I came to Advent rather late to the party. I didn’t hear about Advent until I was out of college and into my theological education. Advent is something new to me in the grand scheme of things and as such I pay special attention to the aspects of the season. The four Sundays prior to Christmas each have a designation: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. All of these are aspects of…
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is almost upon us and, like Halloween, there’s some excess baggage that comes with it. For one thing, there’s the blatant commercial aspect. I don’t just mean Black Friday, though I’m certainly not fund of such, but within the celebration of the Holiday itself, there’s the expectation now of consuming more than we need. Second helpings are expected! I…
Election Results
Today is Election Day. And I’m aware of all the rhetoric. I don’t mean campaign rhetoric about for whom to vote. I mean the rhetoric of getting out to vote. It’s your duty, you can’t complain if you don’t vote (that’s my favorite), don’t take it for granted, don’t let someone else pick for you. That’s all fine. You should vote and I hope you have. But there’s a hard…
Halloween – a Christian Holiday
Full disclosure: I love Halloween. Objectively, it’s a great holiday. What other day do fully grown adults get to play dress up without being police being involved? Well, there’s cosplay, but that’s a different article. Children get candy and mostly from people who they’ve never met. Nevermind the urban legends about tainted treats, getting free…
One thing on top of another
It’s been quite a week! I was officially installed as the pastor a week ago Sunday and in the following week, we lost two faithful, strong women in our church family. I’m reminded of the Gospel of Mark. Mark, of the four writers, is incredibly brief. Everything happens “immediately” after something else. The effect is a sort of rollercoaster where major events are…
“Punkins”
As fate would have it, we had a Pumpkin Patch at the church that I grew up in. Our youth group would get truck loads, unload, and sell these pumpkins. We’d earn money in our accounts and it would allow us to go on trips. So I have a pretty good idea of what we’re about to get into. In all likelihood, I will be in the back of the semi. At some point, a pumpkin stem will…
(Extra)ordinary
I have noticed a certain resentment for the common place or the ordinary. We tend to mark it as mundane or merely normal (as if being normal were wrong). People want to stand out and have exceptional experiences. We want to see the best concerts, we want the table with the best view, we want a coach who will take us to the championship! Who cares if you win 10 games a…
Need a Charge
My dad gave us a couple of flashlights that don’t have a replaceable battery. You pull a little crank out and turn it a couple dozen times and it charges up the little battery and you can switch on the light. I like it because I’m cheap and I don’t have to buy batteries. But I also like the ritual of cranking the thing and charging it. I’m weird. And I promise that story…