Pastor's Playlist

Total moment of transparency here, I really struggled to find a direction for my blog post for this week. In this day and age, we consume gargantuan amounts of media and it's telling that so much of it is really just an easy dopamine kick. We're creatures of habit and if that habit means spending hours scrolling on a tiny screen or rewatching The Office (Ok, but honestly The Office is still good, no matter how many times you watch it), so be it as long as it scratches an itch

Content warning before you go any further: today's blog post deals with the topic of domestic abuse. There's an old saying that 2 seemingly contradictory ideas can be true at the same time. And as a Lutheran, that's a principle woven into much of our theology: We are simultaneously sinners and saints, we live in the "now and not yet", we worship a Jesus who is both human and divine - you don't have to search very hard to find seemingly paradoxical ideas in our faith. But, of

Welcome to the first blog post of July! As I am writing this, I realized a went an entire a month without an outright "Pride Month" recommendation. But as organizations around the country switch their logos back to something a little less colorful and trade rainbows for the red, white, and blue of Independence Day, I figured I'd leave you all with a recommendation for one of my all-time favorite movies: The Birdcage. Starring Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Christine Baranski, G

I don't know about you, but I often find myself as a victim of "doom scrolling." When scrolling the social media feeds or TikTok, I always seem to find that one piece of bad news. And it's like a loose thread on a knit sweater. I search to find out more about the bad thing that happened and then get distracted by other rabbit trails of bad news. And before long, my whole scrolling algorithm has been screwed up, saturated with climate panic, crime and prejudice, and the latest

One guilty pleasure that Matt and I have is to sit down with a good medical drama TV show. Grey's Anatomy, Nurse Jackie, House, The Resident. Neither of us has ever worked in a hospital (though - fun fact - Matt went to mortuary school). I don't know the first thing about treating physical ailments apart from general first aid. But when you sit down for an hour or 2 (or binge a whole season - no judgement here), you start to pick up on specifics. Yes, medical dramas are often

It's funny to think that in some ways, we know more about outer space than we do about the ocean on our own planet. The ocean is full of mystery, darkness, and inhospitable pressure and temperature - and at the same time varied and diverse remarkable forms of life. One creature, in particular, captured my attention this past week - the Giant Pacific Octopus. Octopuses (Octopi? Octopodes?) are highly intelligent, capable of solving complex problems and puzzles, escaping confin

As I mentioned in last week's post, I am a big unreserved fan of Taylor Swift's music. For better or worse, whatever you think of her, I've been impressed with her ability to coin or turn a phrase just right to catch my attention. In her 2024 album, "The Tortured Poets Department," she really uses her lyrical wit to write some of the most poetic songs I've heard. It's easily a favorite album of mine. In one song, "Clara Bow," she uses the example of celebrities and stars from

Many of you reading know how much of a Swiftie I am. (Yes, I know, guilty as charged.) So it will surprise you to know that the first media piece I’m sharing on this blog is not, in fact, a well-crafted lyric or refrain by Taylor Swift but rather something entirely different, altogether. I’m starting off with a movie review (and recommendation). This past weekend, I went to see the long-awaited sequel to the infamous “Devil Wears Prada.” The first film was iconic - I was in

Welcome to a brand new page on our website! I’m glad you’ve found it! I’ve been thinking about writing a blog for a little while - if anything just for the practice of writing something a little more consistently than a sermon or regular weekly emails. And I’ve been going back and forth about the content that I want to create. Until now. For some time, as the summer approaches, millions of people around the world work to make the perfect “summer playlist” to soundtrack their