An Old Emergence

A couple weeks ago, I posted on Facebook that I had made some big life decisions. Well, here we are. Today is my last day at Capital Teas. And to make things more interesting, I do not have another job lined up yet. This is terrifying. However, I have never felt more right about a job-related decision in my life.  So why did I do it? That's the real question. And it comes down to something I have never been great at: a leap of faith. I have had a great life plan multiple times in my life. I have wanted EVERYTHING planned in great detail, even if none of those plans actually panned out. When it comes to taking risks, going out on faith, I am woefully unprepared. Yet here I am. Out on faith. Let's be fair, I had a pretty good job. It paid my bills. There was potential for advancement. I knew the industry. I knew where I stood (most of the time). But I wasn't happy. I know people will say that happiness is fleeting and that job security is important. But I was...

Four years ago I was sitting among a few male friends on campus in the lounge of our University Ministries offices. We had decided, a few weeks back, to form this group so we could spend some time in closer mentorship with our University Minister. At the time, I was struggling through reconciling my journey of self-discovery and my faith. Some of that reconciliation was earth-shattering. And while I never brought that up with this particular group, I was comforted by their companionship as we talked weekly about other struggles. This particular Wednesday night also happened to be Ash Wednesday. Earlier in the evening, I had joined with my church family in Nashville to observe the ritual of receiving ashes. At Glendale, my small, liberal Baptist church, we received ashes in the shape of a circle, denoting the cyclical pattern of life and of our faith journeys. This night was my first encounter with Ash Wednesday at a church of my genuine choosing. It was also the first time I had e...

I know it's a strange, but I was so glad to wake up and go to work this morning. And while I have a good job that lets me support myself pretty comfortably, that's not why I slid out of bed without too much resignation this morning. After two weeks off work for the holidays, who really wants to start waking up at 5am again? No, this morning I finally got to settle back into my daily routines. In an effort to live into this idea of greater discipline in 2014, I have set up an intentional life schedule to help keep me on track with being productive outside my office. These routines (including working from 7-4, Monday through Friday) break down my day into manageable and achievable portions. So this morning when I stood up and immediately clicked on my Songza "Rebirth of Alt-Pop" playlist to get me going, I transitioned easily into my morning routine of breakfast, tea, and shower. Routines can often reach a ritualistic state when performed often enough and with...

I just deactivated my Facebook account. Just now. Not more than five minutes ago. I've been leading up to this day for a few weeks now, even if I only announced my intentions publicly last week. More and more I've come to realize how freeing it will be to have only my blog and an email account for a year. Some have bet that I won't make it a couple of months, but they are missing the true intention of my decision to cut the line connecting me virtually to all the people in my life. It will be a challenge at first, I'm sure, after spending the last eight years plugged in to various outlets for social media. Almost since their inception, I've been a part of Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. It almost feels like a weight lifted to be free of them. Or, at least, at the moment it feels that way. It will be strange to just have my email address and this blog as a way to connect with people online for the next year. And it's highly likely that very few peopl...

I have, for many years, made New Years resolutions that I inevitably fail to follow. Sometimes they’re simple like “eat more vegetables” or “workout more”. Sometimes I even post multi-part blog entries about my resolutions. Yet, I still never follow through. So my New Years resolution for 2014 is simple: discipline. Now, to be fair, there is quite a bit packed into that “simple” resolution. But instead of making a laundry list of habits I want to change or activities I want to join, I am making the concept of discipline my north star. In order to do so, I have made a few decisions about the way I’m going to live in the new year. First, I will be deactivating my Facebook account for 2014. Many will scoff (and have) saying that I will last two months at the most. The funny thing is that this isn’t some contest of willpower for myself. I need to remove this distraction that eats up obscene amounts of my time. What is the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning? Che...

This reflection was first given on Sunday, April 28, 2013, at the ordination service for Reverend Jessica Tidwell at Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, GA. It was commissioned by Rev. Tidwell to represent her own call to participate in and walk in solidarity with intentional Christian communities of equality and grace. ***   “Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human. When we want to give high praise to someone we say, ‘Yu, u nobuntu’; ‘Hey so-and-so has ubuntu.’ then you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. You share what you have. It is to say, ‘my humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.’ we belong in a bundle of life. We say, “A person is a person through other persons.’” The word “community” has become the ultimate church buzzword for my generation. Where once the “Sunday school” answer was Jesus or God, community has emerg...

I am sitting in a Panera in Cleveland, TN on this early, rainy Monday morning. This is the first Monday in recent memory that I haven’t been rushing to wake up and roll out of bed to speed off to work. It is also the first time in almost a year that I have left Charlotte, NC for more than one day. I’m on vacation…something I haven’t really experienced in quite a while.

I alluded to something in my post yesterday about the person of Judas. As tomorrow marks the observance of Maundy Thursday, I find myself contemplating the progression of events that led to Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. As I was reading through the story a few days ago, I was struck by something that I had never really taken notice of before.

Isn’t this a strange time of year? I remember how the third quarter of every school year was always the worst. Even in college, the first half of the spring semester always seemed to drag along. It was like the second half winter was intentionally more dismal than other times of the year.