By Jim Burklo
02/22/12
On my forehead, A sign of the cross, Smudged in ash from the fire That burned down the McMansion of my hubris, And, with it, The money I should have given away, The television I used to numb my senses, The carpet I should have been called on, The doors I should have opened to [...]
More »By Roger Wolsey
02/21/12
(This piece was originally posted in March, 2011, but is now even more relevant in light of the recent Occupy Wall Street protests) Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday. The day before Ash Wednesday. A day for living with passion, vim and vigor, and for zealously sucking the marrow out of life. It’s also a [...]
More »By Shane Claiborne
02/21/12
In a world filled with clutter, noise, and hustle, Lent is a good excuse to step back and rethink how we think and live. In a world of instant gratification, it’s a chance to practice delayed gratification – to fast -- so that we can truly appreciate the blessings we have.
More »By David Henson
02/17/12
A Poem for Sundays there is a place beyond belief, where faith is true and false this promised land I incarnate god and god incarnates me, and together with the incarnations of humanity, we seek to find, create to destroy, this Jehovah, this God, this Christ. in the land of milk and honey, curdled sweet. [...]
More »By Shane Claiborne
02/13/12
I am one of those Christians who believes in angels and demons. But I think the traditional Christian understanding of these things needs a major makeover. Seems to me the Tempter comes in many forms, and is just as likely to dote a three-piece-suit and wingtips as he is to have horns and a pitchfork. And perhaps the angels look more like the bums in the alley than the feathered white babies on Hallmark cards.
More »By Jim Burklo
02/09/12
(on a hike at Devil’s Punchbowl near Pearblossom, CA) Mountain-shaped silhouettesMark the the tall pale stalk Of a spent yucca:Are these its last lines of praiseFor the land where it stands? Above, the yellow pineSighs with the deep gratitude I feelAs wind vibratesIts long-needled vocal chords. Below, in the canyon,Slabs of pale sandstone tilt sunward.The [...]
More »By Guest Contributor
02/06/12
By Cynthia Bolbach, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) One question I’m asked almost more than any other is, “So, where do you see hope in the PC(USA)?” A comprehensive answer would take up more than the word limits of this column. But two things stand out. First, all across the denomination persons are realizing [...]
More »By Shane Claiborne
02/02/12
This morning, at the National Prayer Breakfast, Barack Obama named Dorothy Day as a “great reformer in American history.” Who woulda thunk it? I think President Hoover called her a threat to national security. Here’s the exact quote from the President’s speech: We can’t leave our values at the door. If we leave our values [...]
More »By Guest Contributor
02/02/12
By John C. Holbert Lectionary Reflections for Epiphany 5 - Isaiah 40:21-31 We Christians have just concluded our yearly celebration of the birth of Jesus and, as always, have used the opening verses of Is 40 to inaugurate the feast. “Comfort, comfort, my people,” cries the unnamed prophet of the exile to a people lost [...]
More »By Jim Burklo
02/01/12
“Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more.” (Jesus, Sermon on the Mount, Luke 12: 48) That’s how it is in the kingdom of heaven, that realm of living imagination that inspires us to create it on [...]
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