Someone stopped by my office recently to say hello. He shook my hand and said something rather odd: "You staying out of trouble?" I wasn't really sure if it was a greeting or a question. I wanted to say something cute. But I decided to treat it as a legitimate query. I said: "Well, I try to stay out of trouble, but trouble always seems to find me! In fact, I've about decided that the nature of what I do in ministry is trouble." There was an awkward silence. He gave me one of those funny looks, as if to say, "I'm sorry I brought it up." And then he turned and left.
Read full transcript...A Thursday afternoon in August 2003. It was only, like, the hottest day EVER. I was a chaplain that summer at a hospital on Long Island; and for some reason that I can't even remember, I decided to go home to my apartment in the city a couple hours early.
I loved the reverse-commute from and to New York City, out and back into Penn Station every day. It meant coming home to my favorite place--a city full of light and life--a place that never sleeps, it never grows dim, it always burns, burns, burns, like candles and fireworks. I don't remember much about that hot day before my commute home, only that I was just ready to be back in the city. I was ready for my friends, a delicious dinner, a really cold beer, a good night's rest; I was ready for it to be Friday.
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