Reflections of a Running Reverend

February 23, 2019 St. Louis, Missouri Dear Papa and Mama, Design of Papa and Mama's tombstone in Baguio City, Philippines There’s something in my heart and mind that I’ve been wanting to tell you for some time now. While there’ve been chances to do so, I’ve avoided them not knowing how you would take it. My sense is you probably knew it already but you, too, have avoided the conversation, not knowing how it will go. I know I should have had this talk with you before each of you passed away and I regret not being able to do that. But I am writing this letter anyway, hoping and praying that somehow, as you are now in the presence of God and in the company of that great cloud of witnesses, you would read this, and you would understand. If I were back home in the Philippines, I would go to your gravesite and read this to you. But for now, this will have to do. So here it goes: I’m writing this on the floor of the Dome in St. Louis. It is the first day of the Special Called Sessi

I do a lot of traveling for work but I do not let that get in the way of my running. I try to run wherever I am, whatever the weather. So aside from checking the weather to know what running gear to pack, one of the things I do to prepare for a trip, especially to places I haven't been, is to go online and scope out places I can go for a run while I am there. Two weeks ago, I was checking the map of St. Louis, Missouri to plan running routes close to my hotel while I am there to attend the Special Session of the UMC General Conference this weekend into next week. I found routes, alright. But more importantly, I was pleased to find out that my hotel and the convention center is close to the Gateway Arch and I can run in the park. Now, let me explain my excitement about this find. You see, this triggered a childhood memory for me. When I was in Elementary School, my brother and I would always get home at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, in time for a snack and to watch

The Rapanut grandkids having a light moment together before we drove to the airport. My mother passed away earlier this month . And while she had not fully recovered from the stroke she suffered almost two years ago, her death was sudden and completely unexpected. The last time I talked to her, she was full of life and happy to report that she was making good progress in learning to walk again. That was three weeks before she died. Phone and internet lines had gone down after the devastation of typhoon Mankhut, preventing us from making wi-fi calls. Perhaps I should have tried harder to find other means to connect. It's too late now. No matter how hard we prepare ourselves and our loved ones for it, death still comes with an impact that shakes us to the very core .  We who are left behind are left to pick-up the pieces from the life that has ended while dealing with the void created in our own lives and the deep sense of loss. So many details . So many matters to think of

I have not written a blogpost for a while. Two years and five months to be exact. The last piece I wrote was on May 24, 2016 shortly after the adjournment of the 2016 UMC General Conference. I'm sure there are a myriad of reasons why I haven't been writing, but its nothing I've been able to put my finger on. As life and work went on, I just lost the desire, the impetus, and consequently even the time, to write. That changed a month or so ago when our Bishop Elaine JW Stanovsky invited all of us in the Greater Northwest Area to a " year of Crossing Over to LIFE " using Brian McLaren's book, We Make the Road by Walking , as our roadmap. It is an invitation to spiritual renewal and alignment with Christ. This call to journey resonated with me vocationally as a pastor and in my role as Superintendent of the Alaska Conference but even more so personally as husband, parent, son and friend. I'll be sharing more about the personal impacts later. As a pastor,

This is the fourth day since General Conference 2016 adjourned. Many reflections have been offered since. I would like to add my voice to the mix.  After the sudden turn of events at the beginning of the second week of General Conference, this scripture came to me: He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11-13, NRSV) Elijah was on the run. He had just defeated 450 prophets of Baal in a showdown t

The 2016 General Conference of the United Methodist Church convenes in exactly a week from today. While it may be purely coincidence and totally unplanned, I think it is significant to note that the Sunday in the middle of the two weeks of General Conference is the Day of Pentecost. So, just as the disciples gathered together behind locked doors prayerfully awaiting the coming of the promised Holy Spirit, so I approach General Conference with this prayer: Come, Holy Spirit, Come! Move in our General Conference. Move in our United Methodist Church. We acknowledge that we are not of one mind on many issues. Empower us to "speak in tongues" of love and grace, enabling us to transcend our many differences that we may come together around what truly matters, making disciples of Jesus Christ who will transform the world. May we be sensitive to where your wind is blowing and follow where you lead. May our hearts be ablaze with the passion that burns in yours. May we be ready