Hatred is two-way bad. The worst of hatred is the damage done to the hated, but the hater also reaps evil. Christians must seek justice. We may wage war and must use the police power to protect from evil. We can never hate. One reason the state exists is to remove hatred, private revenge, from justice and also allow for mercy. Justice and mercy are much needed just now, but then they are always needed just now. A traditional Christian... Read more
Final Curve When you turn the corner And you run into yourself Then you know that you have turned All the corners that are left.* “We are,” I thought, “recovering from Harvey.” Proud of Houston and of our community, I thought we were turning the corner and then friends in China began to talk of a virus. “We are,” I thought, “turning the corner on this pandemic.” And then the snow began and the water stopped, we did our best,... Read more
The pipes groaned. We watched and there was a drip of water at the end of the nozzle. One drop. Was this just residue from the line? Were the rattling pipes frozen still? We stared and another droplet formed and hit the glass with a plop that was joyful. If the water drips steadily, however slowly, you can collect that water in a pot, boil, and use. We just needed a tiny drip, a lighter for the gas burners, and patience.... Read more
Still Here I’ve been scarred and battered. My hopes the wind done scattered. Snow has friz me, sun has baked me. Looks like between ’em They done tried to make me Stop laughin’, stop lovin’, stop livin’— But I don’t care! I’m still here!* Take heart. If you are reading this, despite all temptations or provocations, you are still here. They have not got you yet and the good God and the cosmos love you: laugh, love, live. Some... Read more
Little Lyric (Of Great Importance) I wish the rent Was heaven sent.* When a great poet gives us a poem as short as the title, we must pause. If I wrote such a thing, then in all probability some teacher assigned a poem and this was my way of getting the darn thing done in time for bed on Sunday night. This poem is not that. Langston Hughes could clear this throat, double down on inspiration, and poetically preach for... Read more
Blue Monday No use in my going Downtown to work today, It’s eight, I’m late—And it’s marked down that-a-way. Saturday and Sunday’s Fun to sport around. But no use denying—Monday’ll get you down. That old blue Monday Will surely get you down.* When you wake up in Houston, Texas with no power and water that is slowing to a drip, then this is not a good Monday. There are worse Mondays: the fall of Constantinople would be tomorrow in... Read more
There are men so great that they change everything. If you can hang with Frederick Douglass, drop everything, find him, and learn. So many deceive themselves into thinking they can lie for the greater good, but a Douglass trumpets the truth for the true Good. His eloquence is sufficient against multitudes and he has the character to endure. Find Frederick Douglass. But God help us, such men are vanishingly rare. Frederick Douglass could educate Abraham Lincoln. This was Plato instructing Aristotle... Read more
I was once on my way to an important meeting, when one of children asked if I could help them with something. I stopped and did, because even though there were Big Things to do, the “little” things counted. As a Christian, I could not even be sure of my judgment and that the “little thing” was really small! The terrible things being done by the Communist China are not easy to see, but will rank as some of the... Read more
Advertisements remind us not to put off standard health care, just because there is a pandemic. Illness of any kind intrudes even if what we are told that we should be paying attention to some other “vital news of the day.” Life continues and the deep patterns of life do not care a whit what is trending on social media. They do not even care, or are hardly impacted, by the rise and fall of empires. God has a long,... Read more
Answer jingoism with patriotism. Answer quietism with Christian activism. Never mix motives, but be active in this life in light of the world to come. One reason to deeply read Black activists before the Civil War is that they got this balance right and did justice in the Republic inspired by the Kingdom. A Christian must be active for justice, read the prophets, as subjects of the King of Kings. An American citizen should be active for justice, defending what... Read more
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