Innerdriving

Easter 5B Acts 8:26-40 April 28, 2018 St. Matthias On any given Saturday – at the Walmart on Lakeshore in Birmingham, you will find a preacher who has made these great big signs with Bible verses and popular Christian phrases.  There must be 20 or more of them and he stands by Lakeshore and preaches.  He has a microphone.  He has a rather large speaker on top of his van and even with the windows rolled up – you can hear his music.  Phyllis and I have waved and honked and I would just imagine that he is an interesting person to talk with.  But I have never stopped.            There are people who knock on our front door from time to time representing one Christian group or another and wanting to share a pamphlet, tell us about what they believe and invite us to join their Church.  I always have mixed feelings when this sort of thing happens.  On the one hand, I am annoyed that I must st...

Today I celebrated a wedding and it was special in so many ways.  The bride and groom are in their 70's and wonderful. I don't know if I have ever enjoyed premarital counseling quite so much.  The wedding took place at Church of the Ascension in Vestavia Hills, Alabama where I served for 7 years.  We had a wonderful time visiting with good friends.   Now I have celebrated weddings for the past 26 years as a priest and each one is special, but this was different in a very unique way.  Today I had the opportunity to serve with the Rev. John Harris.  John is a good friend of the groom, Adrian Blackmon, and some months ago Adrian asked if John could assist.  Little did he know that John was my family's pastor many years ago in Baton Rouge, LA.  My father was at LSU earning his PhD.  We attended Grace Baptist Church and John was the pastor.  Later John and his family moved to Pineville Park Baptist Church in Pineville, Louisiana a...

Easter 4B 1 John 3:16-24 April 22, 2018 St. Matthias            It is good to be back at St. Matthias after 2 weeks in South America.  We enjoyed a wonderful visit with our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter.  Every morning, Lydia would come into our room and wake us up.  She would quietly climb on top of the covers – gently kiss Phyllis on the cheek, give her a hug – and whisper, “Wake up Nanny!”  THEN she would stick her finger in my ear.  Now I must explain that up until now, Lydia has typically jumped on top of me and yelled: “ Wake up, Papaw !”  But now that she is almost 6 years old and somewhat heavier than when – say – she was 4 – putting her finger in my ear is actually a better deal.  I get a kiss and a hug too.            Part of this trip we were on a boat sailing from Ushuaia, Argentina around Cape Horn and throug...

Describe purple! You almost have to begin with something we already know such as "Purple is like..." or  "Purple looks like..."  Even that will certainly not be enough.  RED and BLUE  make PURPLE , but how much of each one.  There are hundreds of different shades and hues between red and blue on the color wheel and if you had a bit of yellow, the variations increase exponentially.  And what's the difference between purple and violet? But in my mind's eye, there is a color I call "purple" most often and if you ask me to describe it, I will give you an answer from my experience of purple.  It will take me a while and even when finished there will likely be more to say.  My experience of purple will be somewhat different from yours.  Together we may change our personal and individual understandings of purple.  Yet, with each shade of purple, it just won't be quite perfect.  So we have to keep imagining and sharing and re-describ...

Every Sunday at St. Matthias, I record my sermon.  This started about a year ago when I wondered how my sermon sounded.  I know what I write.  Every sermon is preapproved by Phyllis and I know how it sounds at home when I practice. Now I don't remember why I wondered what the sermon sounded like from the pulpit, but I did.  The drive from St. Matthias back to our house in Birmingham takes about 55 minutes.  It is a good opportunity to listen and think about if what I preach sounded how I anticipated it would sound.  Sometimes it does.  Sometimes I am surprised.  It has been a good exercise. From time to time I am asked for copies of my sermon.  This seems like a good way to offer both the text and the recording.  Just so you know, I will start with the Easter Sermon and then next will be the sermon from the Fourth Sunday of Easter.  We were in Argentina visiting our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter for the two weeks aft...

We should be clear,  Inner Driving  is literal.  It would be easy to say it is like the more philosophical or motivational cliches such as Inner Driven, Inner Drive, or Inner Drivel.  But to do so would confuse its true meaning with one much nobler.  Instead, why do people driving in the right lane of a 6 lane highway refuse to  move over when I am merging from an on-ramp?  Are these the same people who drive so slowly in the left lane – especially when I am late?  Why would you not use your turn signals or turn on your lights when it is raining?  And don’t get me started on drivers who will sit and wait for the car pulling out of a parking space at Walmart so they do not have to walk 5 extra feet. It was my daughter who first suggested Inner Driving as a spiritual practice of more sane thinking.  She was convinced that my instructions to other drivers were not beneficial – to them, me, or her.  We all would be better s...

You see a map of Argentina because that is where I am.  Our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter live in the Recoleta section of Buenos Aires and have for the past 2 1/2 years.  Our son-in-law works for Exxon Mobile.  We come to visit at least twice a year. So tonight I was sitting on the couch in their condo and out of the clear blue decided to start this blog.  The next post will tell you about Inner Driving. This one gives you some context.  My name is David Hall.  I am married to Phyllis and have been for almost 10 years.  We live in Birmingham, Alabama where I am a financial development consultant and work with nonprofits and churches.  I am also an Episcopal Priest and on Sundays, you will find me at St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Tuscaloosa. Phyllis and Lydia Phyllis is an attorney, CPA, and Vice Chair of the Shook and Fletcher Companies.  She is very cute in a hard hat and safety boots. Stefanie is my daughter livin...