Bil Aulenbach In my lifetime, I have served under ten different bishops. In the Episcopal Church, a bishop can have a great deal of power and authority. She or he is also the chief shepherd of the flock. I have admired and respected four of those bishops, primarily because they were more into being pastors than legal … Read more
I promised that I would not blog about all the negativity in our country and the world until I saw something optimistic. Fortunately, I am starting to see that ray of hope. Quietly, and sometimes noisily, people are planning ways to resist. Some are already demonstrating. First, however, here are some absolutes: We cannot cave … Read more
The airwaves and other media are filled with negativity that can leave one feeling hopeless and helpless. I have decided to buck that trend and write a positive and uplifting blog post. ***** Over the years, because we Gentiles read the Bible literally, we often miss the great truths within the stories. Miracle narratives are … Read more
Most of my readers know that I feel the institutional church has lost its way. It hangs on to a Jesus that doesn’t make much sense in the twenty-first century. During my sixty-eight years of ministry, I have become convinced that Jesus’s main message was to live agape, with unconditional love and total forgiveness of … Read more
Penny asks, Bil, could you give us a column about PeaceLoveJoyHopeKindness for the new year? I’m surrounded by bad news. Four people died in a fireworks blast, thirty more injured, many critical, and most were children. Where’s the Joy? Thank you, Penny, for the question. No one has ever asked me that before, but my … Read more
The State of Louisiana has mandated that the Ten Commandments be included in every classroom. I have tried to imagine seventh-grade teachers walking into their classrooms on a Monday morning, and voilà, emblazoned above the whiteboard or blackboard is a list of the Ten Commandments. The principal has ordered the teachers to review them with … Read more
Ashley asks: How do you feel about being touched or led by the spirit? Your question reminds me of a clergy friend who shared that God had called him to go into the ministry and added, “So I did. That was twenty-five years ago, but I haven’t heard from Her since.” So much of your … Read more
My first trip to Europe was in 1960. I was a bachelor who had just graduated from seminary and been ordained. I spent the summer exploring Europe. I had heard about this little island a half mile off the coast of Normandy called Mont Saint-Michel, first established as a monastic shelter in 708 CE. On … Read more
The United States will have an old new (or is it new old?) president after Donald Trump is sworn in on January 20, 2025. Disclaimer: he is not my president. Many, including me, find themselves living with a nagging sense of helplessness and hopelessness. I have to be extremely careful not to be sucked into … Read more
On our daily walk, Annie and I started listening to a book by Oprah Winfrey called What I Know for Sure (Flatiron, 2014). The book’s title came about when film critic Gene Siskel interviewed Oprah and asked, “What do you know for sure?” It caught Oprah off guard, and she couldn’t come up with an … Read more