Tag Archives: writing

SOME THINGS I DID. SOME THINGS GOD IS CHANGING.

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles, Uncategorized

As I look back on this sabbatical, and consider some of the things I did during it, I am realizing why it had felt so different from other sabbaticals. Some of the things I did made this month different, and perhaps a bit un-sabbaticalish, but as I consider these things I realize that each has played its part in shifting/ revealing the rhythm of life for the future…which after all is the main reason I took the sabbatical.

On day two of the sabbatical a truck hit the church, so I spent some time this month dealing with insurance and contractors. That is an example of several administrative and pastoral tasks that I have taken on this month that I should not have. I have shifted over the month and have begun to delegate the tasks to staff and volunteers. As I come back I am asking the question, “What tasks do I need to begin to share with staff and volunteers on a permanent basis?”

At the beginning of sabbatical my old phone broke beyond repair. I had been jollying it along for a few months. I probably should have taken time to replace it before I went on sabbatical. I would not have had to spend five hours of resting and prayer time fixing something that could have been fixed if I had taken the time to do it before it was an emergency, As I come back I am shifting to a pace that will enable me to take care of necessary work before it becomes a true problem. I am going to figure out this procrastination thing.

During sabbatical I went to my doctor for my annual physical (something Im have been becoming better at). The physical raised some alarm bells for my doctor and she sent me for a cardiac CT which showed I am at risk for a cardiac event. I have been prescribed medication for the first time in my life and have been referred to a cardiologist. As I return from sabbatical I am choosing a pace that will involve the health care that is required to “take the journey into the winter season” (I have a lot more to say about that particular word which was a personal word to me and a corporate word for the church).

I am looking forward to hearing what the church has heard from God as we have sabbatical together.

PRACTICE WRITING MAY 21, 2025

Posted on by under PRACTICE WRITING
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I have not done much actual writing lately. I’ve missed it. I enjoy putting out the quick videos (although I am not very good at it yet), but there is something about putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard that is just more fulfilling.

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Something about writing down thoughts makes me feel like I have accomplished something with my day. I makes me feel like I have reached some sort of summit. Maybe that is what makes me a writer. Maybe it’s not about the publishing of the writing. Maybe it is about the sense that writing is the answer to some call of my heart.

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Writing has always been one of my great joys. I miss it when I don’t get to do it.

WHAT ARE THE THINGS IN YOUR DAY YOU MUST DO TO FEEL ACCOMPLISHED?

PRACTICE WRITING 4-6-25

Posted on by under PRACTICE WRITING, The Stories
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I haven’t been practice writing much lately. Honestly, I have been struggling with the discipline of my lifestyle for the last several weeks.

I have been chalking it up to transition. So much has changed in the rhythm of the Vicarage these last several weeks it has been a bit overwhelming for all of us. It’s been good, but admittedly a little daunting.

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Add to that, the fact that I am about to go through oral surgery to remove three teeth tomorrow….

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and I think I have a perfect recipe for a procrastination depression. I don’t feel sad, but I know I am hiding in YouTube, Facebook and episodes of “CALL THE MIDWIFE”.

I think I am also struggling with the permaculture mindset that flows between ministry and forest gardening. The two things seem to be a perfect complement for each other. Yet they also call for a mindset of self discipline that is, frankly, a new level for me.

I keep watching episodes of the “The lazy Gardener” and “Huw Richard” on YouTube. While they talk about how permaculture is cooperating with nature and actually less labor intensive than conventional gardening, I am left wondering if this is the “lazy” way then……GOOD GRIEF!

I am also powerfully aware that my perspective is being powerfully effected by all the changes going on inside my home and in the community. The return of my sister is wonderful…and it is the fulfillment of prophetic forth telling that comes at the convergence of many prophetic forth tellings. Add to that the currents of global instability and…. GOOD GRIEF!

So I guess I will wrap this up by saying I am struggling a bit and praying a lot for the new level of self-discipline this new season is calling me into both as it regards the Vicarage forest garden and the ministry here in the town of Winchendon. If there was ever a time for prayer it is now!

PRACTICE WRITING 3-16-2025

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In these practice writing sessions, I have been trying to awaken the writing craft within my soul. The muse went into a state of hibernation when I took on the role of lead pastor of Cornerstone Church.

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I used to write a lot. I generally turned out about four blogs a day. Some of that was written expression but I was also experimenting with photography and pencil artwork. I also finished a book and was toying with the idea of self publishing or maybe even finding an agent.

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I knew when I took the role as a lead pastor, that my dedication to this art form was going to change. It was one of the things I considered when I answered the call. In the end the call won out. I was resigned, if need be, to say “good bye” completely to writing and my artistic side.

For all that, I did try to create a modified writing lifestyle. I managed to keep Lillie-Put alive, by posting a daily devotional blog. Over time though, the ability to write began to fade. I found my use of words becoming clunky and even ideas for blogs which used to seem a dime a dozen became harder to drum up in my mind. Other creative gifts also began to atrophy. I noticed my vocal range was shrinking and when I attacked the keyboard to wring a song from it, my fingers felt like sausages only mildly obedient to my brain.

I have not minded the loss much, though. The work I have entered into is some of the most rewarding work of my life. I know that this work is what God wants me to be doing. Still, I have to admit there have been moments that I have missed my creative side: I have missed music; I have missed poetry; I have missed story telling; I have missed art.

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Then about a year ago, I noticed a change beginning in me. It seemed I was building capacity…room for more in my life. It seemed that I was being directed to fill that new space in my life with creativity. It has taken time to implement a rhythm in this new margin of life, but I feel like finally I am getting there.

It strikes me that this was not anything I consciously intentioned. It seems more a gift God is giving me for the season that lies ahead. However this margin has been built, wherever this capacity has come from, I accept it with open arms and I am so thankful for it!

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PRACTICE WRITING 3-12-2025

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles, PRACTICE WRITING, The Stories

From my childhood I was spiritually sensitive. I know that in our “modern” world saying something like that has the potential of offending our culture’s deep bias toward a skeptical humanism, but there is no better way to explain the road I walked from my earliest memories.

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I was deeply interested in the supernatural and by the time I was 12 I was intentionally seeking a deeper spiritual experience that would awaken something inside I knew was there but did not remotely understand. I read about the new age. For a while I actively sought out the power it purported to have.

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Then I met a young lady in my class who was a Jehovah’s Witness. She began sharing her faith with me. It was the first time I had ever heard about Jesus as a Savior (previously he had been introduced to me through my reading as a powerful seer or psychic). It was also the first time I had ever come close to any kind of biblical explanation of existence.

I didn’t understand it then but I was being guided by the Hand of Divine Providence. I can look back on it now and see how God moved the pieces around the chess board of my life, but then it was just questions and realizations coming in real time.

I ended up hearing the full gospel message first from my eighth grade social studies teacher and then through another twist, my father who was most definitely not a believer called my “crazy uncle” and asked him to take me to church. I ended up attending church with at a little Assemblies of God in my hometown (where I am now the pastor). I sat in that little church for six months before I made a true personal commitment to Jesus Christ as my God.

I have learned that there are many bends in the metaphorical road of faith. The way is narrow and it winds precariously up a very high mountain. I have also learned that on this journey of faith, truth is not so much discovered as it is revealed.

PRACTICE WRITING 3-5-25

Posted on by under PRACTICE WRITING, The Stories

My father died so young (at age 49), I hardly got to know the man.

When I was young, he worked all the time. When I was young I knew only his authority. It made me feel secure and it scared me. I suppose that is because I understood his authority as a weapon.

My father struggled with an explosive personality, something I am told he inherited from his grandmother. On more than one occasion I saw him use his temper to reinforce his will as the boss or the head of the family. Don’t get me wrong I was never abused. He never hit my mother or me or my sister. I was just always aware of an anger in him boiling somewhere just below the surface. I wanted to stay away from it.

I suppose that is why I fell down the tunnel of imagination. I learned to hide in stories. Some I read, some I made up, but most of my young life I was more inside my head than I was in the outside world. I kept those psychic walls up throughout my childhood. I didn’t have my father’s forceful personality, but I learned how to do weird as well as he did angry and that became my defense, and a wall of separation between me and….well almost everyone.

My father and I were just coming to an easy peace, when he suddenly passed away. I think I was just beginning to learn about the sources of his anger and he was just beginning to understand the gates that would get him through my weirdness when we ran out of time.

Still and all, I am glad that I was a part of his life when he went. I realize while I did not have as much time as I would have liked, we did have time. I had come home. I had begun to learn how to stop isolating from him and we were working together when his time came. We had begun to share our adult selves. I think given more time we would probably have become good friends.