Coffeehouse Contemplative

We may have many different reasons for not setting a good boundary when we should. A certain amount of them are rooted in satisfying our own ego at the expense of our own health and relationships.

Recounting my experience at Akron Pride at the end of August.

I'm celebrating my 100th episode via a lot of self-admitted navel-gazing regarding what I've learned over the course of recording this podcast.

Recommended favorites:

TRIGGER WARNING: domestic violence and suicide

My community suffered a great tragedy this past week. This episode is my possibly ill-advised way of beginning to process it. I also reflect on ways to express grief when we can't find the words.

We can give quite a bit of our mental and spiritual energy to worrying about things that won't happen for a while. Sometimes such worry is warranted, but often it could be redirected toward what's happening in the moment.

My family and I recently had the chance to take a ghost tour of the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. I wanted to share a little of our experience while it's still fresh in my mind, as well as talk about other potentially paranormal moments that I've had.

The concept of "leaving the nest" works just fine for birds, but it gets more complicated when we apply it to humans. This week's episode re-examines this long-used metaphor.

Certain industries warn of "pinch points" that may be present as workers perform tasks or operate tools or machines. There's a such thing as mental, emotional, and spiritual pinch points as well. This episode explores what those could be, as well as ways to watch for them.

My sermon at Bethany UCC in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio on July 23, 2023.

The sermon I preached on Sunday, July 16th at Bethany UCC in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

My first night in Indianapolis, I took a pretty extensive walk through the downtown area.

My family enjoyed our annual beach vacation in mid-June. I decided it'd be fun to gradually record something for the podcast during that week as different ideas came to me. This week's episode is the result.

Our minds have creative and amazing ways to help us make sense of the world, including how best to make decisions when faced with opportunities and problems. But as helpful as they can be, we may need more than our own cognitive devices to see what's truly happening.

NOTE: the podcast will be taking a break in June and will return in early July.

We may have a certain notion or preference about how life should play out, but it doesn't often match up with what actually happens. From ordering an unfamiliar dish at a restaurant to our biggest life moments, how do we reconcile the ideal vs. reality?

According to the liturgical calendar, we are still in the Easter season. Does it still feel like Easter, though? Reminders are much more difficult to come by than they were in March and early April. So what kinds of reminders do we need, and where can we find them now?

Sometimes we ask, "How did this happen?" or "How did things get to this point?" To help find the answer, we should look back on what happened the days, weeks, or months before. And what could we do today to end up with a better tomorrow?

Sometimes the images we use for God make sense, but due to life's current circumstances, there might be others that make more sense to us. This week's episode will explore the fact that we have many more such images to work with than we may think.

You may be dealing with some ailment--physical, emotional, or spiritual--that is throwing you just enough off kilter to cause you to re-arrange your approach to life. How do we live with such things, and can we learn anything from them?

Even the most constructive forms of feedback can feel awful to hear. But remembering some things about ourselves and the person sharing it with us can help us receive it better.

This episode will be released on Easter Sunday, so I'm sharing one of my own experiences that is foundational to why I consider myself an "Easter Christian."

Palm Sunday and Holy Week show us a very different use and nature of power than what we're used to and may even prefer.

My sermon at Congregational United Church of Christ in Canton, Ohio on March 26, 2023 for the Fifth Sunday in Lent.

There are certain people, places, experiences, or seasons with which we may have negative associations. And when the circumstances are right, those negative associations can revisit our bodies, minds, and spirits all over again. For some reason, I try to avoid calling this phenomenon "trauma," but that's what it is.

This week's episode is the sermon I preached at Dover Congregational UCC in Westlake, Ohio on March 12, 2023 for the Third Sunday in Lent.

Hitting our physical nerve points can hurt. Hitting our emotional and spiritual nerve points can hurt even more. This week's episode will explore how to identify what and where those nerve points are for ourselves.

All I want to do this week is tell you the story of my recent speeding ticket. 

Do we have a problem with Lent? Maybe, maybe not. But there are ways in which Lent can be problematic. This episode explores those ways, as well as offers some guidelines for choosing a Lenten practice.

After experiencing a failure or mistake, it can be very easy for us to dwell on it to the point where we expect nothing but negative things to happen going forward. That mindset can then affect future attempts for the worse.

Now that most churches are gathering for worship in person again, the old tired arguments about which form of worship is best are being trotted back out. This week's episode is basically a rant about that kind of thinking, with an encouragement to be more open to what others find meaningful.

In one's school days, our experiences of gym class and recess might have been very different, and we might have dreaded the former while eagerly anticipating the latter. What were the differences between the two, and how might we be operating with these same differences in our lives today?

I didn't have a clear single idea for this week's episode, so you get several ideas in shorter bursts instead. This week I reflect on "the grindset," rearranging my basement studio, and my current book manuscript.

We can put an incredible amount of pressure on ourselves to get everything in our lives absolutely perfect, and we may even tie this need to our own sense of self-worth. A little-known extra-Biblical document gives us some practical wisdom for how to address that.

Many still make resolutions for New Year's, with mixed results at best. But there are alternatives to this method that can be effective in helping people make desired changes to their lives. One such method is choosing a single word by which to live throughout the year. 

The Christmas season can bring a lot of positive feelings such as comfort, peace, sentimentality, and belonging. But the theological implications of this time is also meant to bring discomfort, challenge, and a call to action.

The season of Advent is the precursor to Christmas, but it serves an important purpose in its own right. This episode will explore why Advent is necessary for Christians' preparation for the new birth to come.

Around the same time that many people like to begin singing Christmas carols, Thanksgiving hymns may be chosen for worship in many churches but might not receive the same attention. This episode is my own attempt to give them the appreciation that they deserve.

Taking a view of life that is ordered and linear and has very clear steps may comfort some, but for many it doesn't make much sense. Perhaps there's another way to approach life and faith that takes better account of circumstance and context.

My new ebook, Four Weeks: Reflections for Advent, released on November 1st. This week's episode includes a celebration of that release, an overview of how it came about, and a couple readings from it.

How does one become better at something, whether art, cooking, crafting, writing, or anything else? I came up with three concepts that all start with the letter C, and then in the midst of recording I added a fourth. Whether three or four, these are what help lead greater ability in one's chosen activity.

Social media can be a wonderful place of information, connection, and affirmation. It can also be incredibly addictive, and detrimental to our minds and spirits. 

This week's episode was almost a bad idea, but then I realized that and changed it. How do we spot a bad creative idea, and what makes it bad? I explore that while sharing a few bad ideas I've had over the years.

What do you do when some part of your life just...stops? It was a part of your meaning-making and helped form part of your identity, and now it's just not there any more? What are our options when we suddenly have to start over?

Remembering and giving thanks for the life of a recently departed mentor, the Rev. Richard Plant.

When is an ending really an ending? What does it look like to measure our lives less by calendars and clocks and more by seasons? Changing our perception of the ebbs and flows of our lives may help us identify signs of change, both past and present.

Sometimes we do everything as best we can when discerning a new venture, but once we begin we may still discover that it wasn't the right fit after all. What could cause this, and how might we react after?

So many things factor into a good and faithful process of discerning what we are called to do. Here are 8 factors (among others) that are important to consider when figuring out where we may be meant to go next.

When we consider trying something new, how often might we tell ourselves that we might be too young/old/inexperienced/quiet/outgoing/etc. to actually do it? We might be depriving ourselves by squashing our ambition before we start, or soon after we try. The story of Jeremiah's call helps give insight to moving past these initial statements.

What keeps us from trying something new? It could be a variety of factors, some rational and others less so. But how do we know whether it will be good for us until we actually venture out and do it?