1982. 1998. 2018. My Mom and the World’s Fair

In 1982, my mom let me skip a day of school. She would never do that again. It was the next to last day of kindergarten, and instead of going to school, my mom and I loaded a bus for Knoxville, TN, and took a little day trip to the 1982 World’s Fair. It’s one […]

Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, and George Reeves

The first celebrity death by suicide that I can remember being conscious of was George Reeves. I knew him from the syndicated reruns of the 1950s Adventures of Superman television series, which would occasionally run on the local TV station in the late 70s and early 80s. As a superhero-obsessed kid, I devoured anything I could […]

The Kids On TV

My friend Erin Wathen asked me to guest blog on her Patheos site, Irreverin, this week. I decided to write about my experience with the young leaders of Chattanooga Students Leading Change. You can read my entry here.

Another Confession for William Carlos Williams

I have five stories about myself If I tell them all to you you will understand everything there is to know about me. I will tell them all in rapid succession while I have you here Because if you leave before you know, you will forget, and then who will I be?

The First Letter of Matthias to the Church in Chattanooga

1. Matthias, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, by the eleven who remained after the death of Judas, through the casting of lots. To the Church that is in Chattanooga, to those who call themselves Disciples, called to serve and proclaim wholeness in a fragmented world, together with […]

We do not know what’s coming in the morning: A Good Friday Meditation

This is the night we gather to remember the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a hard night. And a hard story. Traditionally, the scripture that is read when we gather to remember this night is the Passion account from the Gospel of John. John’s account of the Passion is a hard story for many of […]

Third Month. Two Friends. One Poem.

Travis She was our neighbor. She stole our pumpkins. Overfed our dogs. On the day I took her To the hospital She called me by someone else’s name She was the nicest lady ever. — Julie I’ve always really loved this pic. I see my grandfather at a clay pigeon shoot I see that we […]