by jakeowensby | Jul 9, 2021 | Uncategorized
Jason Reynolds noticed something about young people. Especially young boys. They hate reading books. At least, they think that they hate books. His insight was that they don’t actually detest reading. They just don’t like being bored. The problem, he realized, was...
by jakeowensby | Jan 8, 2021 | Mark 1:4-11
People change, whether we like it or not. We grow or we decay. We move toward our true self or we betray it. That goes for individuals as well as communities. And an indispensable part of becoming who we aspire to be is facing who we actually are. That’s one of the...
by jakeowensby | Sep 4, 2020 | Matthew 18:15-20
At dusk my wife Joy, our daughter Meredith, our dog Gracie, and I were strolling through our hurricane-damaged neighborhood. Shattered trees, broken branches, and all manner of debris lined either side of the street. People had been hard at work beginning to restore...
by jakeowensby | Aug 21, 2020 | Matthew 16:13-20
My maternal grandmother wore her white hair long, pulled back from her face, and falling straight down her back. She spoke broken English with a heavy German accent. Her name was Marie. And she loved me. My mother and I lived with her and my grandfather Josef off and...
by jakeowensby | May 29, 2020 | John 20:19-23
Making peace is hard work. In part that’s because peace results from justice. And let’s be very honest with ourselves. Everybody wants justice for themselves. The rub comes when pursuing justice for others changes the world that we’ve grown accustomed to. When...
by jakeowensby | Nov 29, 2019 | Matthew 24:36-44
My friend John got a call one evening from the dementia unit. His father had been suffering from Alzheimer’s for several years. John’s father had dressed himself, packed his suitcase, and was now waiting in a visitor’s lounge. The staff had tried to coax him back into...
