Author Archives: Benjamin White

Swimming Under Niagara Falls with Jesus

At the Lent retreat this weekend we were led to practice prayer of imagination. Here’s a story I wrote about my experience: I’m on the Maid of the Mist, the boat that takes tourist into the clouds at the base of Niagara Falls. If the light is right, there are rainbows everywhere. The light wasn’tContinueContinue reading “Swimming Under Niagara Falls with Jesus”

Eulogy for the Pinelands

Oliver Speaks for the trees Today I wept tears as I saw the writing on the wall of the Crowne Plaza Ballroom in Cherry Hill. So many of us were there to say “no” to a proposed pipeline conceived to send freshly fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania through the Pinelands to a coastal power plantContinueContinue reading “Eulogy for the Pinelands”

Cells are Resistance

Cells are my resistance movement. And this moment in time demands resistance. I’m pretty sure I would be in utter despair if I didn’t have a cell. Circle of Hope organizes into circles of ten we call “cells” where we do the actual work of being Christians together- loving, laughing, lamenting and including the nextContinueContinue reading “Cells are Resistance”

I’m back on campus

Some of you heard the story of how I got kicked off Camden County College’s Blackwood campus last November for holding my “Tell Me Your Story” sign. It caused a bit of a stir among my friends and people I didn’t even know. Someone egged me on to enroll in a class because the securityContinueContinue reading “I’m back on campus”

I actually hit the ground running

It didn’t rain on the 4th day of January (today) so I went for a run. It IS New Year’s resolution time and all. I always take an opportunity to start or renew my discipline because I always need a chance to start again. You may be like me. I’m an “all in” kind ofContinueContinue reading “I actually hit the ground running”

I Got Kicked off of Camden County College’s Campus Today

Yep, you heard that right. I got kicked off of Camden County College’s Blackwood Campus today for hanging out with students who I met while holding a sign that said “Tell Me your Story.” The head of security asked me to leave because I was not an authorized guest. I asked him how I could beContinueContinue reading “I Got Kicked off of Camden County College’s Campus Today”

Holy, Holy Geese

I don’t think I can tell people enough that in Celtic iconography the Holy Spirit is often represented as a wild goose. To the Celts of ancient Ireland and Scotland, Ah Geadh-Glas (Wild Goose) was a more apt description of their experience of the Holy Spirit. How caged and docile is your experience with the HolyContinueContinue reading “Holy, Holy Geese”

Passion might be overrated

Siri tells me that passion means “strong and barely controllable emotion” and I’m like, “Isn’t that a bit extreme?” And she just keeps repeating herself. (Try it, you’ll see) People often describe me as passionate, enthusiastic and the like, and I have often said that my job as a pastor is to stir up the passionContinueContinue reading “Passion might be overrated”

What if I didn’t have to be myself all the time?

A friend of mine was feeling trapped this week by feelings and thoughts he was having that he didn’t like. The exact situation doesn’t really matter that much because I think most of us can supply our own scenarios in which our thoughts and feelings come to us as unwelcome strangers. When this happens, itContinueContinue reading “What if I didn’t have to be myself all the time?”

Jesus will make you a good driving instructor

I’m not a very good driver. This is mostly because I’m easily distracted. Birds, clouds, interesting people, and burritos are numbers 1-4 on my list of most frequent causes for close calls. I am, however, a really good driving instructor. And since it sounds like I’m tooting my own horn, I better quickly say that it’sContinueContinue reading “Jesus will make you a good driving instructor”

Adulting is hard (why do it alone?)

Sometime in the past year, “adulting” crested the horizon of my lexicon. Some more clever or hip people may have been using it long before that, but for about a year I’ve been saying “adulting” to describe all sorts of responsible activities. Usually “adulting” means not going out all night on a week night, payingContinueContinue reading “Adulting is hard (why do it alone?)”

Jesus is always messing things up

Jesus is a disruption. From the very beginning of his story, Jesus is a total disruption. Mary and Joseph probably had other plans for their lives. I’m thinking especially of Joseph who “had in mind to divorce Mary quietly” because she was pregnant but then he had a very unsettling dream. The baby was fromContinueContinue reading “Jesus is always messing things up”

Learning to Be a Team

A revolutionary gathering Last night the cell leaders gathered at our location in North Philly to be the team. They are drawn together from across the region—many neighborhoods, many backgrounds, many (2) states. In a world as divided and lonely as ours the work of our cell leaders is revolutionary. A cell is a circleContinueContinue reading “Learning to Be a Team”

Three Ways to Find Refuge and Safety

My new cell is meditating on a “lil nug” of scripture every week. This week it was Psalm 91:2 “He alone is my refuge, my place of safety.” After a week of terrible news in our personal lives and around the world, some of us were tempted to say “That’s cute.” We can read theContinueContinue reading “Three Ways to Find Refuge and Safety”

I think I might be putting God to the test

Remember when Jesus was out in the desert chilling with Satan? There’s this epic showdown in Matthew 4 when Jesus get’s tempted by Satan to do these three things that would betray his relationship with God and Jesus stands firm. In his second temptation Satan tells Jesus to throw himself off the top of a high buildingContinueContinue reading “I think I might be putting God to the test”

“Keeping it on Chop” or NOT committing…ever

I may be on the cusp of a linguistic breakthrough because I was hanging out with teenagers yesterday and one said that she and this guy were “keeping it on chop.” She sad her friend had used that phrase to describe a relationship status akin to “just talking.”  I looked up the phrase on urbanContinueContinue reading ““Keeping it on Chop” or NOT committing…ever”

Don’t Let Your Eyes Adjust to the Dark: How to keep caring when bad stuff keeps happening

The attack that killed 14 people, injured 17 and resulted in the death of 2 suspects, began yesterday morning, at an office holiday party in the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. The center is called “Inland Regional” because it is located in the “Inland Empire” of Southern California where I was born and spentContinueContinue reading “Don’t Let Your Eyes Adjust to the Dark: How to keep caring when bad stuff keeps happening”

Jesus, My Twin

I was so moved by the documentary “Twinsters” I needed to tell you about it. “Twinsters” is the story of two identical twins who were born together in South Korea but quickly separated and adopted by parents in different countries, and how they find each other through the internet. Samantha Futerman, the twin protaganista andContinueContinue reading “Jesus, My Twin”

I’m like 30. How do I make a friend again?

Someone asked this question in my cell recently. And it was sincere. I feel it. How do you go from not knowing someone to knowing someone or being there for someone? The prospect is daunting. And it’s more than just my cell mate. This is something everyone feels. I was recently listening to the JudgeContinueContinue reading “I’m like 30. How do I make a friend again?”