Recent Tweets

@malcolmmarler
  • Matt Cutts said, Try something new for 30 days. Worth an effort, anyone want to join me in this challenge? #TED http://t.co/GCo4iHRw
  • So good to be back home, but loved seeing my Episcopal postulant seminary wife in Virginia this weekend. So proud.
  • "What to say at death's door," by Hospice Chaplain Kerry Egan, well worth reading, http://t.co/0pzai0I2 @DavidFleenor thanks

Comments

  • Freedom Prayer (2)
    • kathy: I am ready to live free of the devastating effects my mother’s mental/emotional illness has had on me...
  • Still, a Child of God (7)
    • Wes Ellis: I read your column with great interest. I, too, am a “convert” to the Episcopal Church, the...
    • Margaret Hinson: Yea! Malcolm, Would you believe that Jimmy and I had often wondered if you would consider serving as...
    • Jerry Jacob: Malcolm, This is something else we have in common. I, too, came from mostly a Baptist background. Maundy...
    • Sherri Shepherd: Interesting to me how so many children of Baptist preachers defect. Some have said that the pressure...
  • The Samuel Prayer (5)
    • teodora contreras: as soon I wake up early morning, I talk to the Lord, Speak Lord Your Servant is Listening. Then I...
    • Jeff: Nice mantra.

The Problem with Clergy

In the Christian Church, the role of professional clergy (pastor, priest, etc.) is antiquated, cumbersome, and ineffective in the world in which we live. The concept of professional clergy setting certain people “apart”to do ministry, or as the ones who know more about connecting with God, or that which is sacred in the world is

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Singing from the Heart

I park about 6-7 blocks from my work each day so that I get a little extra exercise.

Yesterday I was walking from my office to the car and I came upon a young woman in her 20′s who was singing at the top of her lungs. It was a happy song she sang with

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The Constance of Change

My daily work is teaching me that change is the only constant in my life.

Things do not go according to my calendar on many days, and today was one of them. I’m learning that change gives me an opportunity to think, to pray, to be creative, and to listen.  If I’m open to learning

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The Distraction of Envy

Do you ever envy other people’s talents?

Dr. Michael Saag is a friend and a world-class HIV researcher and physician.  But it is his ability to quote entire dialogues from movies he has seen that makes me laugh hysterically.  Especially comedies.  He can have an entire room rolling on the floor by quoting a scene

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Feeling Guilty Is Not Enough

As I watch the evening news tonight, I see stories about the people of Haiti and what they are going through following the devastating earthquake.

One story is about a five year old child (see above) being told that she will have to have her leg amputated in order to live.  She screams

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Yes or No?

I want to say “yes” to people. I want to be liked.  I want to be the person others come to when he or she needs my time, my skills, or my resources.

And yet if my compass is simply to be liked by others and say “Yes” to them, I am in big trouble.

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Simplifying Life

As I begin the new year of 2010, I’m thinking about simplifying my life.

Basically I mean owning less stuff. The time I spend in maintaining cars, fixing things around the house, and keeping up the yard makes me wonder who really owns what?  It wasn’t always like this in my life.  I used

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