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Marion—Never took a Lyft A 95 year old woman passed to the other side today. One of the privileges of spending the last 40+ years in pastoral ministry are the times I have gotten to spend with widows in their 80’s-90’s. If I ever write a book about my life in the church, I might title it “The Strongest People I have ever known— are little old Ladies”. A little over two years ago I made the standard pastoral visit to meet Marion. Marion, who “let go” this afternoon was grace, beauty, wisdom, humor, and ornery wrapped up in what…

4 Rides on a Friday Summer afternoon Ride1– Llama Racer— I picked her up in the midst of a very busy downtown afternoon. She hopped in the car and began a pleasant interchange. “I have got to get home because we are going to the Burro Races in FairPlay this weekend. My boyfriend has a cabin up there and we went last year. I had no idea how much fun it is. Now what I am really excited about is the Llama race on Saturday. Last year I took 4th place”. She the explained to me that people think they…

Birthdays are usually something I enjoy. When I turned four I had a “firecracker” 💥💥💥””” cake 🎂, and a backyard full of kids playing in plastic swimming pools. The day I turned 16 I passed my drivers exam, and I had already saved up enough money to buy a car. I turned 18 in Belgium$ , where the Lecocq family hosted an amazing dinner in my honor. I realized on that 2nd day in Europe that the world was way bigger than Pueblo. I turned 21 in Boulder, and let’s just say it was a “Rocky Mountain High”. I still…

Last week I was headed out of town with my grandson Miko on a road trip to Enid, America (Oklahoma). Miko had agreed to go with me to the headwaters of my college life for a Phillips University reunion. Phillips closed 20 years ago, and I’m not sure I have yet fully recovered from the sadness that I thought I would never have to feel. Anyway, we were headed down 17th St. going to I-70. I was in the left lane of three lanes. At Franklin Street a big A__ truck decided to make a left turn from the center…

In 1964 after completing my freshman year my dad informed me I was going to work at the family owned business—Cleaver Carpet Center. I said, “But I planned on playing baseball, going to the pool and being 15. Instead, I got to ride my bike to work at 6:30 in the morning, prepare the previously washed area rugs for delivery, and head out to return them, picking up another 12-15, cleaning homes with wall-to-wall carpet, scrubbing the haul from the day, and figuring out how to survive the 100’ Pueblo summers. I often worked 55 hours a week for $1.15…

25 years ago today, I sat in my parents’ living room and had perhaps the most vulnerable conversation I ever remember with my dad, Bill. He was in his recliner lounge chair we called ‘control central’. He had his remotes for TV and VCR, along with his portable radio.  He was a WW II pilot 👨‍✈️ and this was his cockpit. It was the 50th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion and for some reason I was up visiting from the San Luis Valley. He had just turned off the TV news coverage remembering D-Day. No one else was around and…

Monday is a ‘day off’ from Greeley pastor duties. So when a holiday falls on a Monday I get to pick another day. My Memorial Day was the “original” one before our political leaders decided they wanted ‘three-day weekends’. What had been just fine from 1868-1970 was changed. Well, this year I had an old school Memorial Day. I picked Jeremiah up by Union Station and we headed to the Cherry Creek Mall (15 minutes). My passenger started the conversation by asking if I was retired. “No, I flunked retirement. This is my Memorial Day, I do this for fun.…

The last time it snowed like this in May in Denver was 1974. May of ‘74 was the beginning of my life as a Dad. Amy (my kid), was born on the 20th and 45 years later this past Monday, I was greeted with 5” of snow. Monday is my Lyft day so I headed out into the snowy darkness of predawn with a sense of adventure. My first ride took me 17 miles south of Arvada to Englewood. We had a spirited conversation about the loss of civility in politics. Within seconds I had my next ride. I spotted…

I hit 4000 rides in less than two years, and the climb to 5000 has taken almost that long. My goal was to hit 5000 rides before I turned 70, last night I reached it with six weeks to spare. LYFT has promised me a gift when I hit it and as I can be easily motivated, I pressed on. At 1000 rides I got my favorite jacket of all times. It fits perfectly, is sleek black, mid weight, with lots of zipper pockets and a 1K LYFT logo. At 2500 I got a black, pink trimmed polo shirt, not…

Today is April 20th.  Downtown Denver is preparing for 20,000 happy weed smokers to gather in Civic Center Park. Native Foods, my favorite vegan eatery, sent out a 4-20 Munchie Special— I am in, even though the last Pot I smoked was before Bill Clinton “did not inhale”.  I am also remembering 20 years ago when I had been at South Broadway Christian Church for two years as pastor, and my “dial-up” internet sent out a news bulletin that there had been a “mass-shooting” at Columbine HS in Littleton.  We opened the church doors to 100’s of folk who just…