Thursday, December 22 is Winter Solstice: the shortest span of daylight hours and the longest night of the year. In my neck of the woods, this means “The sun is above the horizon for approximately 9 hours, 26 minutes. Sunrise occurs at 7:24 a.m. and sunset at 4:50 p.m.” On this day with more than 15 hours of darkness, perhaps Paul Simon offers us the most lyrical invitation for how we might begin to allow ourselves to savor a Soulful Solstice. Simon... Read more
(1) NPR: Religion – A few years ago my car radio was almost always tuned to NPR. More recently I have taken to listening selectively to my favorite NPR segments. Since I’m a huge religion nerd, I love being able to listen to the religion-themed excerpts of “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” and other NPR programs without necessarily having to listen to each of those hour-long shows each day. (2) Homebrewed Christianity – An astonishing number of great interviews with world-class theologians.... Read more
Jesus clearly says the kingdom of heaven is among us (Luke 17:21) or “at hand” (Matthew 3:2, 4:17). One wonders why we made it into a reward system for later, or as Brian McLaren calls it, “an evacuation plan for the next world.” Maybe it was easier to obey laws and practice rituals for later than to actually be transformed now. The price for real transformation is high. It means that we have to change our loyalties from power, success,... Read more
Dear Lowe’s: Islamophobia is as equally reprehensible as anti-Semitism. Both are forms of racism and bigotry. Christians must stop confusing Christianity with Christian Supremacy. I wish I could force both the management of Lowe’s as well as the protesters to read Philip Jenkins’ important new book Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can’t Ignore the BIBLE’S Violent Verses: Commands to kill, to commit ethnic cleansing, to institutionalize segregation, to hate and fear other races and religions — all are in the Bible,... Read more
I don’t understand the outcry from some quarters that, “There’s nothing to watch on Netflix Instant.” I couldn’t disagree more. There are currently 37 films in my “Instant” queue that — if there were but world enough and time — I would be watching immediately. To name only a few: Meek’s Cutoff, Biutiful, Rabbit Hole, and Antichrist. For anyone unsure of what to watch next, Netflix provides tons of recommendations (click on the “Watch Instantly” tab), but most additions to... Read more
This list is in alphabetical order (because agonizing over a precise order would take out all the fun). Also, I am limiting myself to DVDs received in the mail. I will post a follow-up list sometime this week with my favorite Netflix Instant streamed in the past year. This list also excludes some great films I saw in the theater this past year, which could perhaps be another future list. I also have to give credit to one of my... Read more
This list is not the best of new releases in 2011, but rather the best of the CDs I listened to for the first time this past year. I also have to give credit to NPR’s free All Song’s Considered podcast, which introduced me to many of these albums, especially the ones released this year. This list is also in alphabetical order (because agonizing over a precise order would take all the fun out of making this list): (more…) Read more
I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you Which shall be the darkness of God. As, in a theatre, The lights are extinguished, for the scene to be changed With a hollow rumble of wings, with a movement of darkness on darkness, And we know that the hills and the trees, the distant panorama And the bold imposing facade are all being rolled away — Or as, when an underground train, in the tube,... Read more
The following is the second of two lectionary commentaries on the Gospel lesson for the 4th Sunday of Advent.The first is titled “Hail Mary, Full of Grace” and focuses on the first part of this week’s this week’s reading from Luke 1. Focal Question 1: What would Christianity look like if the focus were birth, not death; human flourishing, not suffering; and this world, not the next? Focal Question 2: How is God inviting you in the coming days and weeks to... Read more
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Preaching through the Didache: A Call for Resources
During the season of Epiphany (basically from the beginning of 2012 through Ash Wednesday), I’m planning a sermon series on the Didache. I’ve read the primary text previously a few times as well as a pieces of secondary literature, but I still don’t feel like I have a firm enough grasp on this important early document. I figure preaching through the Didache is a great opportunity to correct this gap. As part of my sermon preparation, I plan to revisit Tony... Read more