Beware the Spirit of Inquisition
The Rev. F. Richard Garland finds the atmosphere now abroad in The United Methodist Church reminds him of the "spirit of inquisition" against which author Kathleen Norris warns.
View ArticleA Spirit of Charity Is Our True Way Forward
The Rev. F. Richard Garland believes the UMC can maintain unity if delegates will practice a spirit of charity.
View ArticleThe Perils of Power and Authority
The Rev. F. Richard Garland asks, what good is power that is uncharitable, abusive, and destructive?
View ArticleAn Honorable Harvest
In this season of fall gathering, the Rev. F. Richard Garland reflects on how biblical instructions and Native American wisdom both counsel us to live sustainably so that no one suffers from hunger.
View ArticleA Prayer for Today
The Rev, F. Richard Garland offers a prayer for wisdom, compassion and hope in our challenging time.
View ArticleTime for Change
Reading accounts of slaves draws a new perspective for the Rev. F. Richard Garland on the urgent need to eliminate racism in America.
View ArticleBringing Life Into Focus
Life doesn't provide us with "automatic focus." Sometimes our images of ourselves and what we encounter in life are out of focus and/or blurred. Sometimes we allow others to tell us what the focus...
View ArticlePursued by the Light
Just when the darkness seemed endless, and the weariness oppressive, I was reminded that I was being pursued by the light, that the dawn would come, and that soon I would be back in home territory and...
View ArticleSacred Questions
F. Richard Garland, a lifelong questioner, agrees with another writer's assessment that “in the case of our own spiritual lives, questions of God and of other people are essential to the character of...
View ArticleA Gift of Gratitude
When six-year-old Edward Bok left the Netherlands for America in 1869, his grandmother told him, “Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.” Edward became very...
View ArticleGratitude That Endures
In one of the churches I served, there was a poster in the hallway outside the Sanctuary that never failed to get my attention. More than once it picked me up after a particularly difficult meeting....
View ArticlePlaying with Fire at Christmas
In a dove descending within the song of God over a burning bush, El Greco’s “Annunciation” portrays a powerful insight: Creation and Exodus and Incarnation and Pentecost are one!
View ArticleA Vision Full of Surprises
At the 50th anniversary of his seminary class, the Rev. F. Richard Garland ponders his path to a half-centural of pastoral ministry.
View ArticleStumbling through the Lord's Prayer
For the first time in years the Rev. F. Richard Garland is stumbling as he prays the Lord’s Prayer. It’s about a fundamental question of theology. And, it has shifted his personal theology profoundly.
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