As I was spending time with my Shepherd this week, my heart is heavy and saddened with news of how churches have been ousted from a convention over having women as pastors. In every other professional role in our society, women have transitioned into these roles. Women are doctors, lawyers, professors, accountants, executive directors, chief executives, and the list can continue. Yet, clergy, it becomes a different thing. Women are still restricted, labeled, questioned, and rejected in pastoral and leadership roles. Churches have them listed as “Directors” not “Pastors.” But I can tell you from a lifetime of fighting this kind of mentality and disrespect that has been conveyed to me for well over thirty-five years are nothing short of disgraceful…

As I was spending time with My Shepherd this morning, I started reflecting on those who stifle our voice. I was listening to a male politician look over at his opponent and demanded her silence. This did not sit well with me. So, I started thinking and reflecting on this issue. In 1972 the writer and activist Alice Walker spoke with conviction at her alma mater Sarah Lawrence College. She delivered a very powerful message, encouraging women of color to embrace their value and voice. Her novel, “The Color Purple,” she encouraged self-respect in the face of mistreatment. She noted that there are those who would dismiss, limit, or neglect a person’s value. There is a reality to the struggle. There will always be someone who stifles another’s voice…

As I was spending some time reflecting this morning, I came across a poem I read years ago. It resonated with me in a different way. On September 7, 1892, James J. Corbett won the first heavyweight championship prize-fight in which the contestants used boxing gloves. Corbett won the match against John L. Sullivan with a knockout in the twenty-first round. That’s right the 21st round! James J. Corbett also had a way with words. Knowing his background, we can appreciate them even better when he said:…

As I was hanging with My Shepherd this morning, I began to think about a phrase I heard not too long ago. As a pastor from the South, I have utilized a certain suit in which I would marry folks as well as bury others. So, I called that suit my “Marrying and burying suit.” A Catholic nun I know used a term hatched, matched, and dispatched. It was utilized to describe the different times people come to the church. It refers to being born, or hatched; then being married, or matched; and finally, being dispatched referred to someone who had died…

I heard a story several years ago. It is a true story of Charles Plumb. Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal. Several years later he and his wife were dining, and another man came up and remembered that he was Charles Plumb, the one who flew jest fighters from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and was shot down. Plumb was astonished and asked the man how did know this information. He stated, “I packed your parachute! I guess it worked!”…