Month: June 2025

This week I have been reminded several times about the importance of taking care of myself, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

On Sunday, we returned from a long weekend away. While the few days we spent in western Michigan were packed with activities, we spent time in nature, listening to live music, and making new friends, all things that fill my heart.

Monday was an emotional day where anxiety and sadness seemed ever present. Connection time with my partner that evening helped me center. 

Tuesday evening was spent with friends over dinner and at a baseball game. Conversation, fresh air, and good food are good for my soul.

On Wednesday, I toured some of the recreational facilities on campus. This reminded me how important physical activity and exercise are for my body and overall wellbeing. When I neglect taking time for this, I feel it.

Thursday was a lunch meeting for our Wellness Champions team at work. Connecting with positive people committed to wellness was a much needed boost.

Friday morning I stepped on the scale and had a reality check. While I have enjoyed plenty of delicious food and drinks this summer, maybe it’s been a little too much. So at a lunch meeting with a work colleague, I ordered salad. That afternoon, I was finally approved for a new psoriasis medication after months of frustration and effort.

This morning when meditating with my partner, today’s meditation focused on being grateful for your body. As I write this, we are preparing to “Bike with the Mayor” here in Euclid.

Reflecting back on the past week, there were ups and downs, smiles and frowns. I experienced success and joy as well as disappointment and discouragement. Whether pleasant or unpleasant, there were countless reminders about the importance of self-care.

I tend to be an intense person. It’s probably a combination of how I was raised, ADHD, OCD tendencies, the effects of childhood trauma, underlying anxiety, a need for control, and a boundless desire for adventure. If that sounds both exhausting and exhilarating, you’re right.

That intensity requires me to pursue self-care regularly, but with a warning label. Like many people, I have voices in my head which criticize and belittle me. (Yet another reason for self-care.) It is important to remember that the best self-care is not about perfection, restriction, or shame. Rather, it should be bathed in intention, moderation, and gratitude.

Today is Trinity Sunday, the day the church focuses on and celebrates the Trinity. While the Trinity is never explicitly outlined in the Scriptures, the idea of the Trinity is woven throughout the Bible and Christian thought.

For the last two millennia, there have been countless debates, discussions, and writings about what the Trinity really means. Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not here to offer a definitive answer. What I do have to offer is my experience and learning.

With today being Trinity Sunday and Father’s Day, two relational aspects of my life intersect.

When my life took a hard turn about ten years ago, I did a deep dive into the relational and spiritual aspects of my life. As I learned to embrace vulnerability, I examined what shaped me and explored what could help me heal and grow, including my experiences as a son and a father.

Coming to understand the Trinity as movement and relationship rather than a doctrine impacted me in ways I couldn’t imagine, inviting me into a relationship with YHWH beyond anything I had experienced before, even with two degrees in ministry and nearly a decade and a half in full-time ministry.

I had often been taught about having a relationship with God, but it was mostly transactional, God’s love dependent on my behaviors. If I did X, Y, and Z, then God would grant me grace.

This intersected with my childhood experience with fatherhood. While not intentional or malicious, love from my father was often distant, void of much affection, and often based on my performance, especially in school. Thanks to therapy, reflection, and self-work, I came to this realization, experienced anger and sadness, and have since moved towards compassion, coming to understand my dad was doing the best he could with what he had; for that I am grateful.

My childhood experiences with fatherhood shaped my understanding of God the Father and how I showed up as a dad for my own son, in both good ways and bad. The lack of affection I received as a child drove me to be very intentional about how I loved my own son. We would often hug and snuggle. I would play with him regularly and pray with him almost every night. While I couldn’t put words to it then, I was trying to create what I missed as a child. On the other hand, I was still struggling for authentic connection and vulnerability, something which made it difficult to build deep connections with anyone, including him.

What I have learned in the last decade impacts how I show up in relationships, including as a father. I have learned to share my mistakes and shadows rather than hide them. I have learned to be honest about my feelings, including the unpleasant ones. I have learned to accept I can be responsible for what I have done wrong and still experience love and acceptance.

Some of those lessons emerged from a more robust understanding of the Trinity. Rather than seeing it primarily as different functions or “persons” of some distant divine being, the Trinity became an invitation to a dance with YHWH, an invitation without limits, truly unconditional love. This perfect love sets me free to love more fully, even in my imperfection.

On the wall in my dining rooms hangs a print of The Trinity, an icon created by Russian painter Andrei Rublev in the early 15th century. It is based on the three angels who visited Abraham in Genesis 18, but is dripping in symbolism related to the Trinity. It hangs there as a daily reminder that YHWH is constantly inviting me to join their community of love, grace, and mercy, and for me to extend that invitation to those I meet along the way.

While the hurt I caused my son can never be undone, I hope the ways I have been transformed bring healing and restoration. I will never be the perfect father, but may I never stop learning how to be an even better one.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,  and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to set free those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

In Luke 4:16-19, Jesus returns home and takes his turn reading in the synagogue. It isn’t clear whether he chose the words of they were the assigned reading for the day, but regardless, he reads from Isaiah 61. When he finished, the people who remembered Jesus as a child were amazed by him.

But not for long.

At first, his listeners must have puffed out their chests a little thinking about how they, as God’s special people, had been so blessed by YHWH, this prophet reminding them of their privilege as the chosen nation.

But then he went there…

This good news is not just for them, but for everyone. Elijah was only sent to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. Only Naaman the Syrian was cleansed. Release to the captives, recovery of sight, freedom for the oppressed, they are for everyone. God’s favor is meant for all of humanity.

Rather than rejoice in YHWH’s expansive love, they were furious about their loss of privilege. They went from praising him to attempting to kill him. And for what? Because Jesus wanted to extend grace and mercy to people not like them, those not included in their special group.

Loss of privilege often brings about fear and anger in those who feel threatened, but not Jesus. Jesus willingly gives away privilege, time and time again, both in word and deed.

There is no retribution in Jesus’ message and ministry, except for the religious insiders who exclude the other. There is no anger in Jesus’ message and ministry, except for the ones who take advantage of the disadvantaged. Jesus’ entire ministry is about welcoming the stranger, loving the alien, and healing the marginalized.

Maybe instead of a Project 2025, we need a Project 6112. Jesus didn’t show up on the scene with a plan to imprison, blind, and oppress. His project, his ministry, was to release, recover, and free.

Yes, we are a nation of laws, but I believe laws should always be imbued with love. Laws exist to protect, not suppress. Even when we hold someone accountable, love should still be present. When laws are enforced with hatred, retribution, and retaliation, no one wins, and our world grows a little darker.

A real jubilee is not about parading our power. A real jubilee occurs when love leads, mercy flows, and grace is available for all. Those are true Christian values.

I am bewildered by our current leaders who claim to be Christian and state they want to bring “Christian values” back to our nation. It doesn’t appear the values they espouse and seek are as in line with Christ as they try to make it seem.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 5:16-20)

The apostle Paul had something to say about fruit, and freedom (something else these “Christian” leaders also like to talk about a lot), in his letter to the Galatians:

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become enslaved to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:13-26)

Let’s think about these two lists and which attributes are on full display by our current leaders. A quick perusal of these two lists makes it pretty clear which one resonates more.

Let me be the first to say that no one, including me, is bearing the best fruit all of the time. If you followed me around all day, every day, there would be plenty of times you could say “gotcha” and point out one of the behaviors on the first list. But I would hope, and believe, you would see me seeking to embody the fruit of the Spirit far more than falling prey to the works of the flesh.

However, it seems pretty clear our nation’s leaders are leaning wholeheartedly into the first list far more than the second. I won’t run down the whole list, but let’s consider a few examples:

Creating strife trumps peace. We only have to look at the current situation in Los Angeles. While there was limited violence prior to the arrival of military personnel, their arrival increased strife rather than encouraging peace.

Displaying anger trumps joy. I can think of very few times I have seen joy from our current leaders, unless it’s the joy of harming someone they don’t like.

Dissension trumps gentleness. Almost every discussion, disagreement, and debate starts from a place of attacking perceived “enemies” and there is seldom a display of gentleness towards anyone who even slightly disagrees.

Causing factions trumps generosity. Rather than offering the benefit of the doubt or offering a hint of generosity, division, slander, and abuse seem to be the default mode.

Embodying enmities trumps kindness. In a similar vein, hostility towards the other happens every day, All you have to do is glance at social media posts to see that kindness is seemingly non-existent.

A final word of caution and encouragement.

Let those of us who disagree with the current administration’s actions and behaviors be mindful. Let us not fall into the trap of emulating the very behaviors we decry. While I believe it is our moral obligation to oppose those behaviors that are an affront to common decency and humanity, let us not answer fire with fire. Rather, in the words of Paul from Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.“