Author’s Note: I recently had the opportunity to speak at Seattle University’s annual Search for Meaning Book Festival. The presentation, a general overview of Slow Church, went very well. A couple folks asked for copies of my presentation script. I only had one hard copy to give, which is one reason why I’m posting it here. It’s significantly longer than our usual posts, so I’ve also created a downloadable PDF. If I did things correctly, you should also be download... Read more
I have been talking about the work of Liberty Hyde Bailey a lot recently…. (See this previous post for instance) So, I decided to republish this short essay on Bailey here. Of all the things I’ve written over the years, this is one of my favorite pieces. This essay originally appeared in Catapult Magazine, March 2009. Life on the threshold Reading the father of the rural life movement in the heart of the modern city About... Read more
The thing that I have been most struck by as I have read the Sermon on the Mount (SOTM) repeatedly over the last few weeks, is how ambivalent it is toward what we call religion (or even at times, the text seems specifically anti-religious). I’m thinking here especially of Chapter 6 (v 1-18) and chapter 7 ( v. 15-29). One of the shortcuts that “Industrialized” Western Christian has taken over the last century or more is to make an... Read more
Today is the birthday of Liberty Hyde Bailey… Bailey was one of the preeminent American botanists and horticulturists in the early twentieth century. He also was an agrarian writer who wrote quite a bit about nature — nature poetry, nature education, conservation, etc. — and his work was deeply influential on Wendell Berry, and other more recent agrarian writers. Berry pays tribute in his essay “A Practical Hamony,” (LGT: the part of this essay on Bailey via Google Books) Bailey’s... Read more
John and I are excited to be speaking as part of the Parish Collective’s Inhabit Conference in Seattle next month. April 19-20 John spoke about Slow Church there last year, and we both participated in the inaugural event in 2011… This year’s theme is The Art of Parish Renewal: [ Conference Website ] Discover the imaginative, redemptive, and courageous practices that stir up God’s dream in particular places. God’s people are awakening to the possibility of being the church in... Read more
A couple of thoughts have popped into my mind the last few days as I read and reflected on the SOTM… First, John’s decision to give up his iPhone reminded me of a similar choice by my friend Ragan Sutterfield: In Praise of Single Function Devices Ragan writes here: I’ve been wearing a watch recently. It’s nice—it tells me the time. I’ve also been carrying a pocket calendar. It has dates with space to put in appointments and a few... Read more
The Sermon on the Mount hit home in a practical and difficult way for me today. I’ve been struck lately by how distracted I am by my iPhone. The iPhone is a fantastic invention, remarkable really, and a boon in the hands of some folks. But, for me, the iPhone plays right into my natural impatience (instant access to Google and email), my desire for distraction (Words with Friends), and the ever-present temptation to isolate myself from my community–including my... Read more
I was asked to write a reflection on Tyler Wigg-Stevenson’s new book The World is Not Ours to Save: Finding the Freedom to Do Good (IVP 2013) for the Patheos Book Club. But for those who have been following the “Slow Church and the Urgency of Justice” Series, this post is also relevant to that conversation. I recently had the chance to interview Wigg-Stevenson for the current issue of The Englewood Review of Books, so I will borrow a couple... Read more
Continuing the series on “Slow Church and the Urgency of Justice” today. This is the sixth post. (Link goes to the initial post in the series). Previous post: “God Tabernacling in Our Weakness” Continuing the theme of our last post in this series (linked above), Marva Dawn in her important book Powers, Weakness and the Tabernacling of God, begins her exploration of the Ephesians 6 text by noting that because God tabernacles in our weakness, we can be strong in... Read more
I was delighted to get a copy of poet Tania Runyan’s collection Simple Weight last week, which fortuitously is structured around the backbone of the Beatitudes. Another collection of Runyan’s poems, A Thousand Vessels was recently named a 2012 Englewood Honor Book (as one of the best books of the year). Simple Weight is going to make an excellent companion to my reading daily through the Sermon on the Mount, and I hope to share a few of the poems... Read more
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