Thoughts on the perennial demands and changing shape of Christian spirituality.
We used to joke about the dilemma that visitors to an Episcopal church typically face. Do you “kneel, sit, or stand?” I’ve been in a few parishes that have even tried to help with the question. Unfortunately, far too many of the efforts focus on practice and practicalities. Not enough of them focus on the [...]
Prayers for the people of Boston and for all of us… Having lived for a time in the Middle East, I have passing familiarity with the impact that this behavior has on a nation and its citizens. The impact is chilling and brutalizing. We will need to look deep within ourselves to listen for the [...]
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails [...]
We were visiting with friends this weekend and comparing notes about worship. One of our friends noted that a non-denominational church near them offered an “informal” worship service free of liturgical forms. “We just can’t compete, given the formality of our approach to worship,” our friend observed. I can’t speak for my Christian sisters and [...]
There isn’t just one prodigal in the parable of the prodigal son. There are two. One leaves home. The other stays home. The first can’t believe that God can love him. The other believes that God can’t love him — without making sure that it’s the other son God doesn’t love. Neither of them “gets” [...]
This year, more than any in the past, I have noticed a lot of nonsense about Lent. The number of silly recommendations for its observance seems to have grown exponentially: Care for the poor Give up plastic bags Reduce your carbon footprint to zero Don’t misunderstand me. I am not arguing that any of these [...]
Spare me… The pink light The bald deception The semblance of life The undertaker’s brush Close the box Scatter the ash Throw the earth Say the words Ashes to ashes Dust to dust In sure and certain hope Requiescant in pace, David Mark Schmidt, M.D. October [...]
Stick Figure Spirituality Volume One, Number Two ACTION FIGURES God loves you better than you love yourself. But the action figures are interchangeable. I am blessed with a wise friend or two and some weeks ago, one of them observed, “You know, God loves us, but the action figures are interchangeable.” I’ve been thinking about [...]
Discerning the will of God would be a simple matter, if life itself were simple — “simple,” meaning uncomplicated, easily understood, consisting of one dimension. If the particulars of our lives were nothing more than a series of choices that arose out of circumstances orchestrated by God — if the choices made were nothing more [...]
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