by Rev Phil | May 14, 2024 | Thinking Out Loud
“Anything worth doing is worth doing well”. Has anyone said that to you before? Sure, they have. No doubt you heard it spoken by a parent, a teacher, a coach, a scout leader, a dance instructor, or anyone who wanted you to excel in life. It’s a good phrase. It’s...
by Rev Phil | May 6, 2024 | Thinking Out Loud
Game 7. Boston Garden. The Leafs vs. The Bruins Standing between the Leafs and victory was a massive fire-breathing dragon. Did you see it? It wasn’t new. It’s been there for years, albeit not in its current form. Once upon a time, it was nothing more than a...
by Rev Phil | May 1, 2024 | Thinking Out Loud
I read a quote last week that stayed with me. The quote said, “Buddha was not a Buddhist. Jesus was not a Christian. Mohammed was not a Muslim. They were teachers who taught love. Love was their religion.” I don’t have enough insight to speak of the experience of...
by Rev Phil | Apr 24, 2024 | Thinking Out Loud
We have all had the experience of being in a store when an item on a shelf jumps out and screams, “buy me”! On a recent trip to a big box store, the above picture immediately caught my attention. It found its way into my shopping cart and now hangs inside my...
by Rev Phil | Apr 17, 2024 | Thinking Out Loud
For the first time in my life, I owe the government money after filing my taxes. The news came like a blow to the solar plexus. I’m used to getting a healthy refund at tax time, which I use to pay for my villa in France (kidding, the villa is in Portugal). I’m not...
by Rev Phil | Apr 10, 2024 | Thinking Out Loud
My blogs are posted on Wednesdays, but I write them on Mondays. I am writing this blog as the solar eclipse is occurring outside of my window. By the time you read this, the eclipse will be history, and you will no longer have to hear phrases such as “the path of...
by Rev Phil | Apr 3, 2024 | Thinking Out Loud
Someone asked me this week if I was a “Swiftie”. At first, I thought they were asking me if I owned a Swiffer. I don’t. It took an awkward moment or two, but we cleared that up. What this person really wanted to know was if I was a fan of Taylor Swift’s...
by Rev Phil | Mar 27, 2024 | Thinking Out Loud
I was a church-going veteran by the time I was 10 years old. My parents made sure we never missed a service. We were as regular as the mail – “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…”. That means that we were there, even on Good Friday, to listen to the...
by Rev Phil | Mar 20, 2024 | Thinking Out Loud
Believe it or not, there is someone out there who does not like the season of spring!! The Russian poet and playwright Alexander Pushkin had such an aversion to the season he felt a need to voice his displeasure: Now is my time: I bear no love for spring. The floods,...
by Rev Phil | Mar 13, 2024 | Thinking Out Loud
It’s rare for St. Patrick’s Day to fall on a Sunday, so we are going to make the most of it at Northwest with a service devoted to all things Irish. Having never been to the Emerald Isle, I’m a bit out of my depth. So, I’ve been spending some time this week delving...
