Mary, Joseph, and Mysticism

Last updated on: December 27, 2011 at 9:40 am By Bruce Epperly

Many years ago, during my days as a university chaplain, I led a weekly prayer and meditation group. We practiced centering prayer, Quaker silence, visualizations, and lectio divina. After one of the sessions, a visitor, active in the campus Intervarsity group, took me aside and asked, “Isn’t this mysticism, taking time to meditate?” To which I replied, “Is there something wrong with mysticism? After all, Psalm 46 tells us to be still and recognize God’s presence.” His response was a... Read more

Forgotten Figures: Simeon and Anna

Last updated on: December 26, 2011 at 8:00 am By Nick Fox

One of my favorite pairings of stories in the Bible is the two characters who emerge to interact with baby Jesus and his parents in the temple 8 days after Jesus was born. After his parents offer the sacrifice and do what was required by the law, the text reads: Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It... Read more

Emotional Gaps

Last updated on: December 23, 2011 at 12:14 pm By Victoria Peterson-Hilleque

The Bible has what I consider to be many emotional gaps. Places where the text keeps plodding along without comment on the complex feelings the people in the story must be experiencing. I like to write poetry about these emotional gaps in order to understand what is happening in the inner landscape of those inhabiting the story. I wrote this to read at the Christmas Eve community gathering tomorrow at my church, Solomon’s Porch, and hope some of you may... Read more

The Magi Myth

Last updated on: December 21, 2011 at 2:39 pm By Joe Boyd

I have no real problem with believing that actual Magi saw a funky astrological phenomenon and found a Jewish baby a few years later. I don’t deny that supernatural things like that can happen. I also don’t have a problem with the story in Matthew 2 being midrashic. I spent most of my life wanting the story to be historical. For some reason this year I want it to be mythic. We are hungry for myth. History is great for... Read more

World Religions and Ecumenicism

Last updated on: July 21, 2012 at 8:37 pm By Michael D. Bobo

For the past year, I’ve been teaching courses in Humanities at a local community college. In my professional role, I have to maintain a certain degree of detachment from the various topics from lecture to lecture. This includes the major world religious traditions. While maintaining my personal Christian faith, I have learned to appreciate the other traditions for their contributions to global faith and to personal enrichment. There is a measure of humanity that needs and longs for rites and rituals.... Read more

An EPCOT Christmas

Last updated on: December 21, 2011 at 7:50 am By Don Heatley

Every Christmas Eve, my town hosts a night of carol singing in a church at the center of town. The event takes place in a beautiful 19th century quaint country church. In fact, the building is so quintessentially churchy, it was even featured as a location in the movie “In and Out”. (Don’t feel bad if you didn’t see it. No one did.) I’m a little busy most Christmas Eves, but from what I hear, the event is as beautiful... Read more

the 3 lost kings

Last updated on: December 21, 2011 at 6:36 am By David Hayward

I really do think this is the original version found in the most primitive manuscripts. Read more

Everything I needed to know about church, I learned in Kindergarten.

Last updated on: December 30, 2011 at 7:46 am By Mike Stavlund

Okay, so I actually don’t remember much about Kindergarten, apart from the location of the classroom at Vandercook Elementary in Rockford, IL (which is interestingly, now a Muslim community center). I remember the strange allure of paste (I was a player, not an eater), the utter joy of the playground (remember defying certain death on the merry-go-round?), and tables with toys. If I learned any important lessons there, I have forgotten them. No, the place where I’ve been learning about... Read more

Parenting the Divine: A Christmas Meditation

Last updated on: December 20, 2011 at 11:41 am By Bruce Epperly

At the emerging community where I once served as pastor, current co-pastor Diane Brandt has created a banner that affirms the words of German mystic Meister Eckhardt, “We are all meant to be mothers of God, for God is always seeking to be born.” Listen once more: God is always seeking to be born! God is seeking to born in us right where we are. This could be the mantra of emerging and life-affirming Christianity as well as the Christmas... Read more

Christmas…a revolution birthed in pain

Last updated on: December 20, 2011 at 5:39 am By Ron Cole

” Silent night, Holy night…all is calm, all is bright “, every christmas we sing this carol. Usually candles in hand, flickering flames dancing on the walls like some angelic visitation. And we reflect on the birth of the God-child. Having two daughters and being present for both of their entrances into this world, I recall vividly it was anything but silent. Despite the pre-natal and birthing classes when the moment came, calmness and a plan were abandoned…for what ever... Read more