Jeffrey A. Nelson

Hey. Anybody else up yet? It's after 7:00, so I'm guessing that some of you are.

Me? I'm the only one awake so far. That could change at any moment, though.

I'm just sitting here, enjoying some coffee, thinking about the day.

I've got my non-notes ready to be preached. Last Sunday was low-energy, so that felt stunted. But I've got some good stuff for today. I think. The lectionary included 1 Corinthians 13 this week, and I figured it'd be good to reclaim its message as something more than just a wedding text. Because it really is much more than that. "Faith, hope, and love abide...and the greatest of these is love." How many Christians disagree whether in word or action whether love is the greatest out of those three things? How many would rather slide faith in there when nobody's looking? Yeah, that's pretty much the Corinthians' problem, too.

So then it's our annual meeting. Approving the budget, a change to the by-law…

I'm still reading The Process Perspective. It's really not holding my interest that well, I must say. I'm just not in a place to pay attention to it. It may just be that I haven't chosen the best times to continue reading it. But it just doesn't excite me at the moment.

I've also been reading For the Love of God for my book study, the second section of which is entitled "The God Within." These are essays all about how God can be found with us or in us. The first essay in this section is by Lynn Andrews, an American Indian shaman, who provides this quote that I found helpful: "Life is not a belief structure; shamanism is a way of experiencing life that expresses the Great Spirit." There are, I believe, parallels to the Christian life in this quote. Faith and discipleship are less about a belief structure and more a way of experiencing God in Christ in everyday life and expressing that through how we live. I never would have picked up …

As I've mentioned a few times on this blog, I'll be taking a sabbatical near the end of April. It'll be for five weeks, and will last until the end of May. I have planned some activities for that time, which I'll lay out fully later. Those are not what this post is about.

Aside from those specific activities and trips, I have a few larger goals for this sabbatical.

On one hand, I want to spend time reflecting on Bigger Professional Things. I'd like to take stock of what passions I've discovered since beginning full-time ministry, as well as passions I've let fall by the wayside. I want to think about possibilities for further education or training. I want to think about who I want to be and what I want to be about as a pastor in general.

On the other hand, I very much want to think about me and my church. 5+ years is a long time to be together, and I want to avoid getting stuck in a rut. I want to continue developing healthy ministries, and I want us t…

Every year on this date, I listen to or watch my ordination service. I don't know how much longer I'll keep up this tradition, but at least for now it seems fitting.

When I do this, I especially pay attention to two parts.

First, I grab my UCC Book of Worship, and read along with the vows. This helps me reconnect with the promises that I made five years ago. I reaffirm them, and wonder how well I'm doing at keeping them. The promise that has stood out to me in years' past has been the one to minister impartially. That's been a difficult one to swallow at times, I must admit. But I've done my best to honor it. I read along, and I hear myself speaking the words over and over: "I will, relying on God's grace."

Relying on God's grace. I have certainly had to do that. In moments both strange and routine, both joyful and frustrating, "relying on God's grace" has applied in each instance. More recently, as I've pondered what …

I finished Volume 9 of The Sandman, entitled The Kindly Ones. This is the longest volume, and a huge turning point for the series. Many familiar characters from past stories re-emerge; some meet tragic ends. Reading this very much felt like watching the last episode of Angel...there is resolution for some characters, things are left wide open for others, and still others don't make it to the end. All of it happens with this sense of foreboding and finality, and when the Big Moment finally comes, it's almost a relief.

I've also begun re-reading The Process Perspective by John Cobb. I re-read Cobb's introduction to process theology last year and meant to re-read this shortly after as a refresher, and now I'm finally getting around to it. This book is a "frequently asked questions" list about process theology, with a few pages of explanation at most for each question. Still, I think it assumes some advanced knowledge and thus isn't an introduction …

From the Huffington Post:
These penguins are hard, man. Real hard. When you see them walking down the street, you better recognize. Because you do not want to cross these penguins on their own turf. Not on anybody's turf. So do yourself a favor: get out of the way. Penguins are coming through.

This was one of those weekends that stood out; that was especially notable and seemed worth blogging about.

Friday evening was my first bass lesson. I didn't really know what to expect, but I knew that I wasn't going to pretend to be better than I am. From what I'd heard, the first lesson is more about the teacher evaluating your skill level and getting to know you so that he knows where to start. We talked a little about my musical background, and he had me play a song I knew just to judge my technique. I chose the opening riff from Dave Matthew's Band's "Crush." Overall, he thought I looked pretty good, but gave me some pointers on that and then showed me some stuff about the root note, the 4th, and 5th. I sort of knew about this, but had never looked at it in a disciplined way...which was the point of me starting lessons to begin with.

Saturday evening, I traveled to the Catholic church in town. Right around the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,…

Satan tries to set things straight with Pat:
Dear Pat Robertson,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action.

But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished.

Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"?

If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -…