Of the bands that arose in the early 70s during the rising tide of folk and country rock, the Eagles have turned out to be the group with the greatest ability to sustain large audiences, even 30-40 years later. Whether the History of the Eagles Tour currently finishing its run through the States and heading for Europe is indeed their last hurrah or not, it is an interesting exercise to compare them then…..and now. I saw them when they had… Read more

At some point it must have dawned on Pat Metheny that in order to do jazz fusion, a keyboard player is a necessity, not a luxury. That epiphany apparently happened between the release of the Unity Band CD, and the new Unity Group CD, (complete with keyboard player named Guilio Carmassi, who in polymath fashion plays a dozen other things as well, and does all the singing). The result is much better. While the Unity Band CD had its moments,… Read more

On p. 675, Wright suggests that the reference in the Christ hymn in Col. 1 to Christ being both the beginning and the image would send the knowledgable reader back to Gen.1. The question is, were there such readers in the Colossian congregation? On p. 676 Wright insists on the stronger reading of the text of 2 Cor.5.16-19- ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not merely ‘through Christ’ but in Christ, because Paul included Christ within the… Read more

In his splendid book Monuments Men Robert Edsel tells the following tale about the liberation of Buchenwald….Walker Hancock when he got to the vicinity of Buchenwald was visited by a Jewish chaplain ministering to to the surviving victims in Buchenwald. Hancock had recently recovered a Torah scroll, and when the Jewish chaplain visited, he lamented that what the persons in the camp most longed for, was the symbol of their faith and spiritual life— a Torah scroll. Hancock, fortunately had… Read more

Fortunately, it has been rare in my life when I have been confronted with the face of extreme human evil. There have been a couple of times in my life, and it made me extremely uncomfortable. When you read the true story recounted by Robert Edsel (with Bret Witter of Louisville) you are slapped in the face again and again by the true fallenness of humankind, but also its capacity to act bravely and self-sacrificially. A careful reading of Monuments… Read more

We live in a culture in which condiments, like salt, pepper, mustard, ketchup, are so readily available that we take them completely for granted. We have lost our connection with the past, and are unlikely to understand metaphorical phrases like “you are the salt of the earth” in an age and a culture of excess. A healthy reminder comes from the recent excellent book The Monuments Men (both the movie and the book on which it is based reviewed elsewhere… Read more

I am a life long Methodist. I was a cradle Methodist and some day I shall be a grave Methodist. I have lived through the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and now the nascent 21rst century and I have preached and taught all over this church, and in Methodist contexts around the world. Divisions, factions, schisms upset me, as they result from fundamental failures in the church, sometimes even caused by a failure of the chief Christian virtue— love. Furthermore,… Read more

DIRT Dirt Is matter out of place It’s not innately dirty It’s just in the wrong space. Soil Doesn’t soil out in the yard It’s just doing its job Whether soft or hard. Dirt Is needed just to grow Even the simplest plant And all the food we know. Soil Is precious and performs Many necessary functions Sheltering from the storms. Earth It can be dust to dust But lest we overlook it It’s the Genesis of us. Earthworks Yes,… Read more

I want in this particular post to talk about Bishop Sano’s understanding of Mt. 19.12. First of all here is the context—– Vs. 3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” 4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother… Read more