Our hostesses had spent three days preparing this feast for us, not to mention a good portion of their weekly income. Hand made steak tamales, black beans smothered in queso fresco, perfectly spiced rice. Yum! As I dug in to the plate placed in front of me, I gave thanks that the week-long peacemaking delegation I was a part of had stopped at this particular home in Mexico. But it wasn’t long before I realized that many of my fellow delegation members were not sharing my enthusiasm. My friends were carefully opening up each tamale to pull out the steak and scraping the cheese thoroughly off of the beans. Our hostesses looked on in dismay and confusion. My Spanish was just good enough for me to hear them ask our leader what was wrong with their offering.

Preaching is one thing that binds together so many different traditions in the Christian community. There are other binding elements: the Bible as common literature, the Lord’s Prayer as a common petition, and the Cross as a common symbol of our faith.

As a young seminarian I remember my ah ha moment of knowing what sort of preaching voice suited me.   Quite simply I thought about the sermons I wanted to listen to, tended to remember, and wanted to emulate.  The first step was pivotal: I listened.

I do not own an iPad. I’m not opposed to owning one. I just haven’t gotten around to it … yet.

In recent months, it has come to my attention that an increasing number of preachers are bringing iPads into the pulpit in place of a manuscript or notes. I first witnessed this practice about a year ago at the AoP summer preaching camp in Louisville.

‘Tis the season for high school and college commencement addresses. For those who speak for a living (a.k.a. preachers), it is a fruitful time to read, listen, and take note of what some famous and not-so-famous people are saying from the socio-cultural pulpit.