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Handling Criticism: A growing pain

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From August 1 2024 to April 5 2026, I served as Pastoral Associate at a PCUSA church in my local area. It was a VERY interesting experience, one that I will be sharing about as I am inclined to. maybe there is a series here. Who knows maybe titled the Journey of a PASToral ASSociate who knows. Anyway, here's a paper that I wrote for class (I am in seminary finishing up my masters)...  I have of late, begun to think and speak of my time in my current position as something akin to being on death row. It is accurate in the sense that I know that, save a stay of execution (a delay in the hiring of a called pastor) my scheduled date of departure is April 5, 2026. It is both saddening and liberating at once. With a swiftly approaching end date in sight, I have clarity about what matters most. There is one sister in the congregation who has been consistently critical of me. While she has never said anything negative to me face to face, what I have heard ‘through the grapevine’ is that ...
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The Clubdate Singer Speaks 19! The Cast A-Sideman

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Disclaimer: The following story is an actual event, as all of the vignettes in the 'Clubdate Singer Speaks' series are. For 8+  years, I was a member of one of the top Orchestras in the nation. Though it was an enjoyable time, it was also at times, quite painful. I took to writing initially to assuage my distress, and this is one of those times when the pen (or keyboard) proved to be a healing tool. I have considered publishing this series, and would appreciate your thoughts...     "The Cast A-Sideman" -    Late Fall 2017 An observation more than a complaint...  As some of you know, I went back to playing in a wedding band (doing clubdates) in 2017after taking 10 years off... Why? Because I have college tuition to pay, my ministry closed, I was depressed with a lot of extra time on my hands  It's been fun, but it's also an adjustment. I went back to the band that I helped found, and was the main singer in, 'The Manhattan Rhythm Mac...
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Random thoughts on a warm Summer night:

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  I know. It has been a while. In Sept of 2018, as my Dad was in his dying process, I listened to one CD pretty much on repeat on the trips back and forth to the hospital, then the hospice. Believe it or not, it was John Mayer's 'The Search for Everything' Cut #3 Helpless was kind of an anthem. 'If I'm helpless tell me now, Tell me now, And I'll stop trying to figure it out.' We were in fact helpless in the process, it felt at times almost voyeuristic watching him journey ever so slowly but inexorably towards his eternity. A journey that he had to take alone, albeit with spectators.   Cut #1 'Still feel like your man ' is my favorite song on the album, because I identify with the idea of the static nature of loss, as it applies to grief and change. But the one that I played repeatedly after his death was cut #8,  'Moving On and Getting Over' 'Moving on and getting over, Are not the same, it seems to me 'Cause you've been gone, ...
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Art Is. An old joint from 2003 that I recently re-discovered..

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  Art is © 2003 MissionGroove   Art is subjective           Art is objective              Art can objectify                 Art can glorify              Art is political           Art can be Spiritual Art is Alive Art moves, takes different shapes and grows. Art breathes and gives the breath of life.     Art can speak volumes, in total silence, yet says a thousand different things to a thousand different people        Art is everywhere, though some try to contain it in ugly buildings and make you pay to see it.           Art tends to show up in the strangest places.   ...
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