Salve Amice is one of the few phrases that has stuck with me from High School Latin. It means, simply, “Hello, friend.” Why it stuck we me all these years I can’t say. Perhaps it is because the foundational role friendship has played in my life in shaping me into the person I have, with God’s grace, become. Indeed, I think friendship is a primary means by which we experience God’s grace. It is, in a very real sense, a sacrament. That’s why I’ve chosen it as the name of my blog. During my sabbatical I want to do some thinking about the theology of friendship. After all, in John’s Gospel Jesus reminds the disciples,
“I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father” (John 15:15).
One of mentors early on in ministry used a benediction that highlights this verse. I want to leave it with you as I start this blog on the eve before my sabbatical:
Remember that by the goodness of God you were born. Remember that in the mercy of Jesus Christ you have been redeemed. Remember that he walks with you every day to comfort you, to strengthen, and to guide. He promised he would, “Lo, I am with you always.” Remember that while others have called you servants, he has named you friends. In the strength of that mighty friendship, go forth now to serve in God’s gracious name. Amen!
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“Anniversaries & Endings” | Blog #50
August 10, 1986 was a Sunday. I was back in my hometown. Six weeks earlier I had moved south from Princeton, NJ to begin the work of building the Alpharetta Presbyterian New Church Development which would, in time and God’s providence, become the Alpharetta Presbyterian Church. There was a lot to do that busy, hot summer before we began our first worship service. One of the tasks was getting ordained. At that time, the normal practice was to be ordained…
“It Is Good To Be Home” | Blog #49
When I left on the first driving leg of the sabbatical (Atlanta-Montgomery-Selma-Birmingham) I had only 3,400 miles on the car. When I pulled into my driveway having driven home from Morgantown, WV at about 6:30pm this evening, I clocked just over 11,550. It has been a glorious “walk about.” This morning I started out having a delightful breakfast with Blake Brookshire. Mollie and the boys caught a flight yesterday to be with Blake’s family for a vacation in Colorado, while…
“Please Say It’s Not Over” | Blog #48
Leaving Chautauqua was sad. What a week. So glad we were there with a cohort of WPC members who can corroborate and validate our experience. It was remarkable: stimulating, educational, spiritually renewing, relaxing, challenging, artistically inspiring, and topped off with a night filled with laughter…it really is the best medicine. Amy and I were sad to bid the place goodbye. Highlights for us were Fr. Greg Boyle’s preaching in the mornings, Jon Meacham’s Thursday morning lecture, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra,…
“Chautauqua: All That Is Was Billed To Be” | Blog #47
I can’t remember the first time I learned about Chautauqua Institute. It may have been from Rev. George Wirth. George was pastor of the Sewickley Presbyterian Church, north of Pittsburgh, and was often on campus of PTS. I interviewed with him for a position coming out to seminary and knew that he had a summer place in Chautauqua, which I knew was somewhere in upstate New York, but beyond that I didn’t know much. Later, I learned it was the…
“Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Lake” | Blog #46
Tuesday, I decamped the Adirondacks during a gully washer of a rainstorm. By the time I got into Albany it was sunny and warm. Circling the State Capitol looking for a parking spot I cruised past Westminster Presbyterian Church and saw about a handful of senior citizens out front protesting with signs proclaiming, “Black Lives Matter,” “Economic Justice for All,” and “Pro-Choice for Women.” The church is about a block up the street from the Capitol and, providentially, there was…
“Birdsong And Blue Skies” | Blog #45
The little town of North Creek is coming alive as I sit at the table in the side-yard overlooking Main Street, enjoying my first cup of tea, and greeting the morning. Occasionally you can hear a car drive by or a car door slam, but the loudest, most dominant sound is birdsong. It is cool and blue-sky sunny and a gentle breeze is ruffling the leaves on the beautiful flowering plants that ring the yard. These days here have been…
“The Adirondacks” | Blog #44
Nashville is in the 100’s I hear. So sorry! This morning I’m sitting on the front porch of my Air B&B in North Creek, NY perched above Main Street wearing a flannel shirt and drinking a cup of hot tea. It is a cool morning; tourists and locals walk in and out of the bakery/coffee shop across the street while I’m serenaded with birdsong. Being up in the Adirondacks has been everything I had hoped it would be. Amy found…
“Take A Break” | Blog #43
I’m pretty sure that most people in the country have never heard the name Schuyler before the musical Hamilton introduced us to the Schuyler sisters. But having grown up in NE Pennsylvania not that far from the NY Dutch, I knew of Philip Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton’s father-in-law as one of America’s most influential early citizens. His home is just to the east of Saratoga Springs, just on the edge of the Saratoga Battlefield, and it was where the English General Burgoyne,…
“Up In Apple Country” | Blog #42
After picking my car back up in Montclair, NJ I drove back up to Hyde Park, NY to see more of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum. When Amy and I were there last Thursday we didn’t have enough time to tour the house, which is something I wanted to do. Visiting the Roosevelt home, Morgan Library, and Vanderbilt Mansion became a powerful counterpoint to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. Having recently read about Teddy Roosevelt’s support of Progressive…
“The Big Apple With Amy” | Blog #41
Wow! What a great couple of very full days with Amy in the Big Apple. Last Thursday I left my friend, Rob Thomas’, home in Princeton early to pick Amy up at Newark airport. The plan was to head up to the North Shore of Long Island to visit Teddy Roosevelt’s home, Sagamore Hill, drive through some other sites in the area, and return to New Jersey to have dinner with one of Amy’s friends. Alas, I learned too late…
“Celebrations And Serendipities” | Blog #40
Being back in Bethlehem and traveling the backroads over to Princeton on Monday allowed for both celebrations and serendipities. The serendipitous connections led to celebrations and added to the celebratory connections I already had planned. For instance, I found out an old hs friend living in Boston was in visiting her folks on Sunday and would be leaving Monday morning. So, Lori Fegely Hill came over to where I was staying, and I opened a Gin & Tonic bar for…
“A Friend Loves At All Times…” | Blog #39
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17 This morning was the first time I’ve helped lead worship and preach since sabbatical started two days after Easter. I was at First Presbyterian Church of Clarks Summit, “The Church on the Hill”, to do a dialogue sermon on friendship with my buddy Bill Carter. Bill’s been at FPCCS for more than 30 years and we’ve been close friends ever since meeting on the first…
“Touching All The Bases” | Blog #38
My folks grew up in a section of Wilkes-Barre called “The Heights.” Most of the street names were culled from the ranks of Union Civil War Generals: Grant, Hancock, Sherman, Meade that ran off the main street that ran up the hill from downtown, Northampton. The large high school in the neighborhood also had a nod to the Union; named G.A.R. Memorial it was a tribute to the Grand Army of the Republic, the Union Veterans Association. At the bottom…
“Decoration Day” | Blog #37
There is a good answer to a pesky biblical question. In John’s Gospel, Nathaniel asks Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” The answer, of course, is yes, Jesus! But the last time Donovan preached on the text, I took my phone out and texted him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Yes! Martin Guitars! Nazareth, Pennsylvania is a small town just about 5 miles up the road from where I grew up in Bethlehem. In fact, the…
“Borne On The Wings Of Memory” | Blog #36
Memory is such a powerful force in our lives. It can transport us back in time and place over decades in an instant. It can bring those long dead alive again. It can conjure powerful emotions long buried and make them fresh and tender as if they were brand new. Memory was a gift with me riding shotgun as I drove the neighborhoods and streets of my childhood for a good chunk of the day yesterday. It didn’t hurt that…
“Glad I Remember How To Wear It” | Blog #35
Well, the last three days have been a bit crazy even for me. Friday, I awoke to a beautiful morning, packed, and prepared to leave the hotel I’d been in most of the week. Before departure, I walked a block or so up New Hampshire to a bakery and grabbed a table outside in the sunshine. At 9:30 Kelly McCarthy, Assistant Dean of Development and Alumni Relations for School of International Service, joined me. We had been trying to meet…
“Surprises Just Down The Street” | Blog #34
Wednesday broke sunny and warm, a perfect antidote to Tuesday night’s rain. My first stop of the morning was out at National Presbyterian Church to meet an old Bethlehem friend who teaches at the National Presbyterian Church School. Unfortunately, my friends on the church staff, Donna Marsh and Quinn Fox, are both away. Donna is on her own sabbatical and Quinn, along with his wife Nancy (Chair of The Outreach Foundation Board), is on a tour of the Holy Land…
“Seeing An Old Friend” | Blog #33
It’s been quite a few years since I visited Arlington National Cemetery, but this was the first time I was going to “see” someone I knew. Professor John “Jack” Child, Lt. Col. Ret., was Undergraduate Dean of AU’s School of International Service beginning in January of 1980. When I started in the fall of ’78 we were in-between Deans. Professor Bill Cromwell was acting Dean for the year. I became President of the SIS Undergraduate Cabinet as a sophomore and…
“Back To The Old Stomping Grounds” | Blog #32
Picture gallery at the bottom of the blog! For the first time in a long while I had trouble getting to sleep, so I woke up late and had a late start to the day. My plan was to stop by Arlington National Cemetery on the way into DC (more on the why later). Instead, I had a leisurely breakfast and read for an hour and a half before heading out. I’m continuing to enjoy Eugene Peterson’s collection of sermons, As…
“Laughter Is The Best Medicine” | Blog #31
Picture gallery at the bottom of the blog! Sometimes being at the right place at the right time makes all the difference. My morning started, unusually, with me NOT being the first in line for a museum opening. One couple were already at the front door of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library/Museum in Staunton, VA. Gotta give the Ohioans props for beating me to the mark! They told me they wanted to get through the museum because there was going…