My, what a difference 12 years can make. A voyage of a couple hundred miles can feel like decades.This past Saturday, Nancy, Heather and I piled in the family van and traveled 3 hours north, up the Kern River valley, to Lake Isabella. More than a hundred miles away from home. But I was not … Continue reading The New Puppy, Cinderella Story, Traveling On

My friend Alan Roxburg has an interesting take on the spirit of the Olympics, and how we need to move forward as communities of faith.I like the connections suggested here.And, if you have a half-hour, and want to relive all the fun and pageantry, go here.

Recently, several good friends asked me to write down my thoughts about our church.They asked me this because, over the past 10 years, I have spent a good amount of time, reading, studying, and thinking about this topic, and how our old church fits into the fabric of Hollywood and Los Angeles. After 25 years … Continue reading This Old Church

When I hear that trumpet soundI will lay my burdens downI will lay them deep into the groundThen I'll know that I am glory boundI'll be travelling far from homeBut I won't be looking for to roamI'll be crossing o'er the great divideIn a better home soon I will resideHallelujahWhen I'm in my resting placeI'll … Continue reading Glory Bound – Wailin' Jennys

And so it is Lent again. A time of waiting, and preparation, and, if we allow time - for introspection.This past Wednesday was the first day of Lent, and we took a family friend visiting from Toronto to the Lenten Evening service at our church. We meet in the chapel; it is a simple setting, … Continue reading Bread, Wine, and Ashes

Recently, and for the first time, I heard a friend speak the Latin words Deus semper minor. The literal translation of this is "God always smaller". I have been thinking about this. A lot.Big American GodThis little phrase seems to me to be disconnected with what we Americans like to hear. I mean, after all, … Continue reading Deus Semper Minor; The Small Way

Turn this up....the sound is not so good, but the song is amazing:My mind is dull and jadedFrom these years of buy and sellMy eyes have seen the gloryOf this hollow post-modern shellAnd sex is a grand productionBut I'm bored with that as wellAh, Lord save me from myselfElectric sun keep shiningRipen daughters of the … Continue reading Lord Save Me From Myself

Tonight, we are pausing life at our house to watch, via slight DVR delay, the Grammy Awards. And so, in the interest of bringing my 8 readers (yes, I know, I exaggerate) the most informed coverage of the music universe, I Steve Norris, shall be your personal reviewer of the festivities.After thorough research, it has … Continue reading 2010 Grammy Awards – No Idea What I'm Talking About

What would it be like to come back to life, hundreds of years following your own death? James Taylor was inspired to write a fictional account of this, after seeing an issue of National Geographic magazine with a portrait photograph of a man who had be uncovered after being frozen in ice for a hundred … Continue reading Frozen Man

When I was a kid, Jonathan Winters used to make me laugh so hard, I would cry. He still does.Really now, how much can you do with just a stick?