Jo Lewis

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So far Jo Lewis has created 6 blog entries.

METAPHORS: Part 4–Disrupters

I love walks. I call them hikes (it sounds more daring); but if push came to shove, I would say a hike is just a walk in the woods. I also love Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard said, “Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. If one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.”  Almost every day, our dog Ragna and I go hiking in Patapsco State Park; and when I am on a hike, life cannot be much better. But imagine walking down the sidewalk. It’s a nice day and you have little on your mind except that you want to enjoy life by taking a leisurely stroll. Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone or something kicks you in the seat of your pants. You immediately turn around to see who dared

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METAPHORS: Part 2–Physicians of the Soul

Harry Potter is evil. I’m sorry, I meant to say that Severus Snape in the Harry Potter books is evil. All along we had hoped that Snape was Dumbledore’s friend; that while acting suspiciously, he was, in fact, in Dumbledore’s circle and not in the employee of “he who should not be named” (but I think his name is Voldemort). But in a crisis moment, when Dumbledore is surrounded by enemies, Dumbledore cries out, saying, “Severus, please. . . .”; but Snape doesn’t help. Instead, he kills Dumbledore. The weasel! (Sorry, I forgot to say “spoiler alert” before I told the story!). Now, such a betrayal is unconscionable, but I guess with a name like Snape, you’re destined to be evil.  But, a funny thing happens. In the last Harry Potter book, (spoiler alert!) we discover we had it all backwards! Harry extracts memories from Snape’s dying mind and discovers

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Here’s Quoting at You, Kid

I have argued in this series, that, as Gary Saul Morson has said, “Quotationality defines us. We are what we quote.” I firmly believe this, but many of you are still unconvinced. However, I would be willing to bet that you love quotes and already embrace hundreds of them, you just don’t know it. That’s right, I would be willing to bet you are a Subconscious Quotaholic. But already you scoff!  “Even if it was true, how could you prove it?” you ask. Well step right up to my quiz of the day. I’ll give you 15 movie quotes with a key word replaced. I am willing to bet that you can easily replace the “wrong” word with the right one, thus proving my point. Go ahead, make my day! Just try not to “correct” these erroneous quotes! “I’ll get you my pretty, and your little quote, too!” “Why don’t

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May These Quotes Be with You

One of my favorite books is a collection of quotes entitled, If Ignorance is Bliss, Why Aren’t There More Happy People? It is one of a half-dozen quote books that I have in my library. Why so many? Because I believe in the power of a great quote. I feel Joseph Epstein could have been talking about me when he said, “I am not merely a habitual quoter, but an incorrigible one. I am, I may as well face it, more quotatious than an old stock-market ticker-tape machine, except you can’t unplug me.” Amen to that! But I also believe that what the world needs now is more people who “own” a great quote and know how to use it. A great example of this happened this past Sunday. After Outdoor Church, I was talking to Ken about how much I enjoyed our “bluegrass worship” service (Ken played guitar and

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Impossible Questions, Part 2

There’s an old joke about a man who had terrible headaches, ringing ears and an inability to catch his breath. He finally decided he could not take it anymore, and so he decided to end it all. But he wanted to do it in style, and so he went to a tailor and ordered a brand new thousand-dollar suit. As the tailor was showing him various suits, he casually asked what shirt size the man wore so he could complete the ensemble. The man said he was a 16 neck, 34 sleeve and 43 chest. The tailor immediately grabbed his tape measure and started measuring. “I knew that was wrong,” he said. “Your neck is easily 171/2 inches. If you go around wearing a size 16 neck, you’re going to have terrible headaches, ringing ears and inability to catch your breath!” Here’s our problem: we don’t feel like we should

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God Spoke His Word Because He Wanted to be Known

We welcome Rev. Dave Shive as our guest speaker to share this two-part series. This sermon is based on Psalm 19:7-14. SERIES OVERVIEW: Ever wonder why God chose to create the universe? The answer wasn’t because of His need. This is way too anthropological, but it may get the point across: The trinity, dwelling together within the Godhead, enjoyed a perfect existence – perfect in love, perfect in joy, perfect in communion, and perfect in every other virtue. But while God didn’t need to create, he chose to do so. And therefore, creation must have arisen because of something God values. And therefore, answering the question, ‘Why did God create the universe?’ may be one the most important issues that confronts us. This is partly because it leads us to another critical question: “Who is this God who chose to create?” In this two-part series, Dave Shive will take us

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