PlainSpeech Messages | Find YOUR way to GRACE.
I recently read a message I’d given in 1984 and felt a mixture of embarrassment and surprise. Embarrassed because it seems inadequate now, and surprised by how much my worldview has changed. Twenty-five years from now, I might read these messages and have a similar reaction. I offer no guarantee that my work or words will endure the eroding effects of time. I can only assure you these thoughts have been helpful to me, and perhaps a few others, today. With that qualification, I offer them to you.
~ Philip
NEW!
Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? (2)
It is good to be back with you. I spent last weekend riding motorcycles with the Quaker Oatlaws Motorcycle Club and ended up at the Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home in Lincoln City, Indiana, where the accomplishments of President Lincoln were on full display. When we...
Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? (1)
VIEW VIDEO I had plans this this past Monday to pull weeds in our flowerbeds, but it was too hot, so I watched a YouTube video instead. To be honest, it doesn’t have to be all that hot to keep me from pulling weeds. The YouTube clip was a debate between Christopher...
Liberation
VIEW VIDEO A few years ago, Joan got mad at The Indianapolis Star and cancelled our subscription. I’ve never known Joan to be mad at a person, but if you’re a corporation, you’d better not cross her. So now we subscribe to The New York Times, and I’ve downloaded the...
This Too Shall Pass
VIEW VIDEO Every Sunday, on our way home from meeting, I ask Joan if she liked my sermon, and every Sunday she squeezes my hand and says it was wonderful. We’ve been doing that now for 37 years and it’s been a wonderful arrangement. Except last Sunday, when I asked...
Resilience
VIEW VIDEO It’s been wonderful being on vacation. Our son Sam and his wife Kelsea came down from Fairbanks, Alaska, with their dog Maggie, who met another dog during their visit and went into heat, which added an interesting dimension to our time together. It’s a...
Our Family Reunion
VIEW VIDEO My family on my Dad’s side were coal miners from southern Illinois, to the chagrin of my paternal grandmother who wanted everyone to think she was from England and personal friends with the Queen. She and my grandfather had lived in London for about ten...
Habits of Wholeness (8)
VIEW VIDEO Several years ago, Chris and Anne Gautier were at the farmhouse with Joan and me. It was in the summertime and we were sitting outside watching the birds, which were just thick down there. As we were watching, an iridescent blue bird landed on a feeder and...
Habits of Wholeness (7)
VIEW VIDEO I came across a video clip of our granddaughter Madeline this week, taken when she was first learning to talk and had a functioning vocabulary of a dozen or so words—mommy, daddy, Hank (their dog), Nanna, Poppa, kitty, puppy, play. Simple, basic words that...
Habits of Wholeness (6)
VIEW VIDEO I’ve been thinking about my mom a lot lately, five years past her death. After she passed, my thoughts were weighed with grief, but after five years the grief has been replaced with gratitude for the gifts she gave our family, among them a sense of humor,...
Habits of Wholeness (5)
VIEW VIDEO When I applied for seminary, I had to undergo psychological testing to discern my mental fitness for ministry. This was in 1988, when Chris Gautier’s grandmother, Dr. Sue Cardwell, did the psychological evaluations for Christian Theological Seminary. She is...