The Enormous Pressure to Belong
I have been publicly sharing my work online for over a decade. The name “nakedpastor” originated from my desire to bare my soul as a pastor, to be honest about my journey, my thoughts, my vocation, my life, and to be vulnerable about my weaknesses and struggles as...
A Gift I Got Lisa from David Whyte
I love David Whyte's work. Check him out if you haven't come across him already. A couple months ago he informed us that he'd written another poem, "Sweet Darkness", and collaborated with a woodcut print artist to create this beautiful edition. I ordered one and got...
When I and the Universe Feel Most One
Early this morning I arose. The air was so cold outside that everything was silent. Including the radiant moon and its attendant stars. The only sound was the snow crunching under my boots. We took our second son to the airport at 3:30 am. We took our first yesterday...
Protect Your Inner Child
I do not like it when people mock other religions. I also do not like it when people mock the stages of faith that I have journeyed through. I’m not sure how this happened, but somewhere along the way I learned that it was not only negligent and shortsighted to...
The Mystery of Lost Friendships
I want to write to you today about the mystery of lost friends. What I mean is those people who were your friends, in fact very good friends, who suddenly drop off your radar. I mean online and in offline. I’m talking about people who you would have sworn are your...
A Sad Story of Feeling Like We Lost
I want to share something with you guys because I can’t do it anywhere else and many of you were involved in this dramatic story. Just a bit of background: Many of you may remember a couple of my posts from a couple of years ago about Tony Jones, a progressive...
A Friend Removed from Her Church
This letter is on the same theme as the last two: relationships. Like you probably already know, when Lisa and I left the church, it wasn’t long before pretty much all of our relationships were severed. That wasn’t the plan, but the incoming pastor decided that’s what...
Making New Friends
This is a kind of continuation of last week’s letter on community. Probably the most difficult issue for Lisa and I once we left the church was community, or friendship. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about it because loneliness sucks. Lisa and I were anything but...
Community and Orgasms
No, the title of this letter is not clickbait, because I do want to reflect on community and orgasms. I’ve experienced real, authentic community… the kind that is beautiful and unforgettable… the kind we want to experience all the time and enjoy consistently. This...
