Recently, I read the online reflections of a fellow (former?) Christian who has wandered far afield in his spiritual journey. I’m not going to link to his post here, because I don’t wish to hold him up to judgment and because I’m more interested here in thinking aloud about what goes on when people abandon the Gospel. This is a blogger whose writings I have often appreciated over the years. He’s always been more “progressive” (there’s so much wrong with... Read more
I never want to disagree too loudly with Richard Rohr, Bono, Oprah, or Brian McLaren, because, after all, they’re them, and I’m just me, but Clint Schnekloth went first, so I’m just going to draft behind him. His post was triggered by Michael Gungor’s tweet, which asserted that “Jesus was Christ. Buddha was Christ. Muhammad was Christ. Christ is a word for the Universe seeing itself. You are Christ. We are the body of Christ.” With those assertions, Gungor reiterates... Read more
Book Review: Take a Larger Way: Reflections of a Dementia Caregiver by Jay Brenneman I’ve posted twice before about my friends Jay and Janene, including Jay’s own reflections on his journey into grief. You can read them here and here. In Take a Larger Way, Jay pulls together his meditations on his experiences of loss and confusion into a book of reflections charting his and Janene’s journeys, one into wounded caregiving and the other into suffering darkness. Jay tells... Read more
Steadiness is not stoicism. I addressed the lack of attention to the emotional facet of our spiritual lives—a critical component to a “steady heart,”—but it might be wise if we considered what indeed a “steady heart” means. My reflections about the neglect of the heart generated a couple of long conversations about feelings. Readers wondered what to do with the wild emotions of real human life. Most of us can’t pull off the ice queen persona. Life—three-dimensional, non-cinematic, relational life—is,... Read more
Photo by Vidangel Studios In The Atlantic’s June 2021 article, “Christian America’s Must-See TV Show,” Chris DeVille addresses the professional and popular success of “The Chosen,” a multi-season dramatic television series about the life of Jesus. DeVille points out that the show is surprisingly compelling, has won numerous accolades, has a tremendous following (millions, in 50 different languages), and is crowdfunded as it goes. He also concludes with this rather wistful statement: “If The Chosen represents the next phase of... Read more
We all recognize that the pandemic has peeled back our self-sufficiencies and exposed our weaknesses in so many ways—political, economic, systemic, familial, communal, and personal. Over a year of reading others’ blogs, personal tweets, magazine exposés, and newspaper articles has shown us all raw emotions in ways that we had largely managed to paper over when we had jobs, health, incomes, opportunities, and family connections. What has become evident to me is how ill-prepared we are to handle crises. Christians... Read more
I spent a couple of hours reading the Sunday paper yesterday. The prevailing tone of so many of the articles was outrage, anger, hostility, defensiveness, and threatening protests. Once again my friend, Karla, has written words of wisdom and peace–most definitely not dismissing the outrage, but redirecting the passion toward a path of racial reconciliation. Dear White Friend…Again: Image by truthseeker08 from Pixabay. Read more
My friend, Karla, has written a post on her blog addressing the racial lament, confusion, and rage pervading our culture today. I appreciated her words, and I think you would be blessed to read them. Lord, have mercy. A Letter to My Beloved White Friends Image by Momentmal from Pixabay Read more
Adoration of the Magi, Edward Burne Jones, 19th c. Shall we adore Our Lord Jesus Christ? Is he worthy? “Behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’ … They saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold... Read more
These are dark days, darker for some than for others. Dark, for some, in grievous loss of a child; dark, for others, in job loss and illness; darker still for trafficked girls and Central Americans caught in immigration limbo and the homeless single parent and the broken family and the desperate of all sorts. Darkest of all for those without any love. Advent bids us to embrace the darkness, not as a thing in itself to relish, but as the... Read more
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