"I have a daily spiritual practice that has changed my life. As I leave my Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home for my morning walk, I make two verbal affirmations – usually in a low voice so I don’t wake the neighbors – “This is the day that God has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it!” and “What surprising adventure will I have today?” Bruce Epperly on the spiritual practice of holy adventure. Read more

"I find comfort in those two tones that indicate that an episode of a “Law and Order” franchise is coming on. I don’t mind watching reruns because I’ve usually forgotten the outcome. I feel the same way about the “CSI” franchises and the television show “House.” This might be my personal television vice, but I suspect that it’s part of a wider fascination with evidence. That is, many people have become increasingly interested in various forms of evidence– through technology, skepticism, a need for healing or a quest for justice – and how it plays out around us." Guest blogger Monica Coleman shares her fascination with 'evidence' from her Beautiful Mind Blog. Read more

"The stripping away of rules and regulations is hard for some people to stomach. I heard someone say that we would need to be "so much more alert" to the dangers of misuses and abuses. Yes. He was right. But maybe we'd also need to be more alert to one another, and to our faith, and to the church." Talitha Phillips, blogging live from the PC(USA)'s General Assembly, on the vote to adopt a new Form of Government... Read more

I was raised as an evangelical Christian to spend twenty minutes each day in a “quiet time” with God: reading the Bible, journaling, and praying. When I first visited a Zen Buddhist Center as an undergraduate religion major, I was invited to sit zazen for forty-five minutes, more than twice the amount of “quiet time” to which I was accustomed. Read more

This is the third week of our summer series "How Not to be a Disciple." This week our focus is on the parable of the Good Samaritan and our topic is "How Not to Inherit Eternal Life." Read more

"Meister Eckhardt once noted that if the only prayer you can make is “thank you,” that will be enough. And, I agree. Gratitude is the virtue of interdependence and connection, reminding us that what is best in life is a gift, not something we originated on our own and by ourselves but the result of the interplay of our creativity and the gift of life mediated through parents, friends, the environment, culture, our nation, and the divine who moves through all things." Bruce Epperly reflects on the spiritual practice of saying "thank you." Read more

Phillip Clayton of Claremont School of Theology says that the future of the church over the next 20 years will not secured by new and emerging forms of theology, but in ecclesiology. By this he means it is in how we DO CHURCH that is important. While we can expect the continued decline of Christianity in culture we can also expect new pockets of vitality and experience to emerge. Read more