While pagans and others observed the summer solstice, the Church of England announced that it would begin a special outreach those who identify with pre-Christian religions like druidism. “I would be looking to formulate an exploration of the Christian faith that would be at home in their culture,” said Rev. Steve Hollinghurst in the London Telegraph, the only place I could find the story. Assuming it's real, let's hope the effort demonstrates more spiritual discernment than Episcopal … [Read more...]
Jesus vs. the philosophers
June 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I just starting a new book by the contemporary Egyptian monastic elder, Matthew the Poor. He died in 2006, and Conciliar Press has published a collection of his talks under the title Words for Our Time. I plan on doing a full review soon but failed to make it past the first chapter before finding something I had to share: The teachings of Christ are not the type of wisdom boasted of by worldly philosophy; rather, Christ's wisdom is housed in very simple words. "Love your neighbor as … [Read more...]
The one thing kids need to hear most from their dads
June 16, 2013 By 4 Comments
I read a story yesterday that drilled right through me. It's from a letter Montaigne wrote to a neighbor about the love fathers show toward their children. The excerpt is long. Forgive me in advance. You'll thank me when it's done: After the late Marshal de Monluc lost his son . . . he used to stress greatly to me, among his other regrets, the sorrow and heartbreak he felt for never having opened up to him. He had lost, he said, by that habit of paternal gravity and stiffness, the comfort … [Read more...]
One thing your mind needs more than anything else
May 20, 2013 By 1 Comment
Scientist, philosopher, and atheist gadfly Daniel Dennett offers some helpful guidelines for those looking to better engage ideas. His seven tools, excerpted from his new book, Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking, should prove helpful to a large number of readers. The advice ranges from "Answer rhetorical questions" and "Employ Occam's Razor" to "Beware of deepities," that is, statements that sound profound but are merely ambiguous. Those of us interested in Dennett's least … [Read more...]
Believing the best about God
March 4, 2013 By 10 Comments
Our assumptions about God affect our experience of him. My mind returned to this thought several times while recently reflecting on the parable of the talents. The story, which Jesus tells in Matthew 25, is familiar to most of us. Before a man of means departs on a lengthy journey, he deposits some of his wealth into the hands of his three servants: five talents to the first, two to the second, and one to the third. As soon as he's gone, the men get busy. Different servants, different … [Read more...]
In the community of God’s love
March 29, 2012 By 1 Comment
The Trinity speaks to the interrelatedness of the Godhead, each person of the Trinity reaching into the others by an eternal bond of affection and love. That might seem abstract, but our love as Christians is supposed to mirror this love. But how, practically? It starts with charity -- less the noun and more the verb. "Whenever one person helps another by word or deed," said Mark the Monk, "let both understand that this is the grace of God at work." Charity, in other words, is God's love … [Read more...]
The changeless love of God
March 15, 2012 By 2 Comments
Our experience of God often changes, doesn’t it? Sometimes he seems angry, other times loving; sometimes comforting, other times convicting; sometimes close, other times aloof. It varies, which is tricky because Scripture tells us that God doesn't change. So maybe -- if you'll forgive me for speaking for the entire human race -- the problem is us. Scripture frequently associates God with fire. He appears in the flames of a burning-yet-unburned bush. He leads by a blazing pillar. Flame … [Read more...]
Christian love’s bastard child
November 16, 2011 By 24 Comments
If you follow the conversations and events of our day, it's clear that our contemporary culture values agreeableness over truth. Christians have fallen for this as well because the greatest Christian virtue is love, and love is patient, kind, etc. In other words, love comes off as pretty agreeable. It's not going to interrupt. It's not going to correct and chastise. It's definitely not going to judge. It's going to calm the mood and make nice. I think that is the key word, nice. Many … [Read more...]
Love and bear it
August 11, 2011 By 9 Comments
To grin and bear something means to tolerate it, put on a happy face and ride out the discomfort. After all, it'll be over soon enough. That's a perfectly practical way to deal with half the difficulties in life. But what if you could manage to respond with love instead of mere tolerance or reluctant acquiescence? What areas of life might improve with the switch -- work, family, everything maybe? … [Read more...]
God made us to love us
February 24, 2011 By 15 Comments
Why did God make us? When you look how the ancient writers of the Church thought about that question the answer might surprise. It’s the same reason he saved us: love. God made us to love us. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in a relationship of eternal and mutual love. But, as fourth-century theologian Gregory Nazianzen observes, it is the nature of love to seek objects to love. For an uncreated God, that means it is natural to create. “Good must be poured out and go forth,” said … [Read more...]
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