My poems help me see what is in front of me. They typically find that an image is presented, an image that seems to suggest a line of verse, just one which, when written down, enters into a cadence, a rhythm, a sense of sound and echo that evolves into a sequence of lines that flow. They flow until they stop, that is, and announce to me that the poem is, in facet, done. That is true whether the image is a raindrop or a tree, a flower or a bird, a shadow or the innuendo of faith or country: whatever. This book draws upon poems written some years ago, mostly in the years 2009 and 2015. There are also a few current poems that insist themselves into the collection as they are accumulated in the current year's file. As I revisit poems of years ago, quite often the occasion presents itself to memory - but not always so. Sometimes that occasion is as if unnecessary and, indeed, almost in the way of the poem as it has come to be. Revisiting is always a pleasure; it becomes one of the spurs toward forming the collection itself. Indeed, it s the pleasure and the satisfaction in the book that brings it about. Satisfaction is such a boon to life.

These Reflective Prayers are the result of permitting a gentle reading of the lectionary texts for a given service to resonate in me and emerge as a searching engagement of the word with my spirit in a mood of settled joy. The ninety samples given are the most recent, in order, at the time of publication.

My poems sharpen my sight, so that I see better what is there to be seen. I will find some situation or image or nuance that catches my eye, intrigues me. Sometimes, that seeing lends itself as an image for me, and then a line, just one at first that, when written down, enters into a cadence, a rhythm, a sense of sound and echo that emerges into a sequence of lines that flow, usually quickly. And then, the lines stop, the images seem complete, and then they announce to me that the poem is complete. That is true whether the image is a raindrop, a face, a pose, a tree, a flower, a bird, a shadow, or the innuendo of faith or country - whatever. This book draws upon poems written some years ago, mostly in the years 2009 and 2015. There are also a few current poems that insist themselves into the collection as they are accumulated into the current year's file. As I revisit poems of years ago, quite often the occasion presents itself to memory - but not always so. Sometimes, that occasion is as if unnecessary and, indeed, almost in the way of the poem as it has come to be. Revisiting is always a pleasure; it becomes one of the spurs toward forming the collection itself. Indeed, it is the pleasure and the satisfaction in that book that brings it about. Satisfaction is such a boon to life.

My poems sharpen my sight, so that I see better what is there to be seen. I will find some situation or image or nuance that catches my eye, intrigues me. Sometimes, that seeing lends itself an image for me, and then a line, just one at first that, when written down, enters into a cadence, a rhythm, a sense of sound and echo that emerges into a sequence of lines that flow, usually quickly. And then, the lines stop. the images seem complete, and then they announce to me that the poem is complete. That is true whether the image is a raindrop, a face, a pose, a tree, a flower, a bird, a shadow, or the innuendo of faith or country - whatever. This book draws upon poems written some years ago, mostly in the years 2009 and 2015. There are also a few current poems that insist themselves into the collection as they are accumulated in the current year’s file. As I revisit poems of years ago, quite often the occasion presents itself to memory - but not always so. Sometimes, that occasion is as if unnecessary and, indeed, almost in the way of the poem as it has come to be. Revisiting is always a pleasure; it becomes one of the spurs toward forming the collection itself. Indeed, it is the pleasure and the satisfaction in the book that brings it about. Satisfaction is such a boon to life.

The Bible Studies I chose to do came about through the request from my first congregation out of Seminary. I consistently sought to present a serious, somewhat scholarly, approach to the interested among my parishioners. I would take a book in the Bible to study, assume it was written or edited to be read from the beginning, and make sense to the reader in that way. I attempted to discover for myself and my group what the book sought to convey. In this volume, I follow the studies on five of the twelve minor prophets - Hosea, Joel, Amos, Habakkuk and Malachi - each following the pattern of study I had developed.

These Reflective Prayers are the result of permitting a gentle reading of the lectionary texts for a given service to resonate in me and emerge as a searching engagement of the word with my spirit in a mood of settled joy. The ninety samples are the most recent, in order, at the time of publication.

In the free church tradition, the pastoral prayer has long assumed an important place in the worship of the congregation. It is expected that the pastor will have a more or less extended prayer pertinent to the day and/or to the run of the service in general. Under the circumstances of normal practice, these would involve awareness of a congregation, or a "flock" for a pastor to tend. After ending a normal pastorate and entering retirement and the far more occasional happenstance of entering a pulpit as a guest, the regular preparation for a worship-leading practice became desirable, personally. As a part of that preparation, most often without entering the leadership of worship, least of all as pastor, the pastoral prayer was prepared. This book collects eleven years worth of pastoral prayers, linked to the preaching text of the day by way of the sermon prepared. As there is no flock as reference point, these are, indeed, "Without A Flock".

Poetry writing has proven proficient at helping me see what is there to be seen. I will see or hear or reflect on something which then provides an image, a nuance that emerges in a word, a line. The single line and image, written, provides a cadence, a focus of sound and echo that invites a second line, and more. Usually, they come quickly and run until they tell me they are done and the poem is complete. This book draws upon such poems over a pair of sweeps of my history plus a sampling of more current poems that strike me as desirable in this collection. These pieces of my past often recollect for me the occasion but also leave that occasion obscured and allow the poem to do its work of creating an image and a flow in my own mind. The poems, in my experience, write their meaning on my mind. And, I hope, on yours as well. For then the poems do their work.

These Reflective Prayers are the result of permitting a gentle reading of the lectionary texts for a given service to resonate in me and emerge as a searching engagement of the word with my spirit in a mood of settled joy. The ninety samples given are the most recent, in order, at the time of publication.

Abbot Andre Louf said that, when a person decides to get serious about the spiritual life, s/he should acquire a spiritual director. Wayne Proudfoot argued that the form of religious experience depends upon the tradition in which it is perceived. Georges Bataille searched out the meaning of his own intense inner experience in non-traditional ways. This book seeks to follow the meaning of traditional measures of the spiritual life learned through the experience of the author once his spiritual life decided to choose him.