It was during a discussion with other clergy when I blurted what suddenly seemed obvious. Donald Trump is the shadow side of The United States of America. When we speak of our shadow-selves we are talking about the bad parts of ourselves we do not acknowledge. That is what I mean when we say the present occupant of the White House represents our national shadow. I can think of two immediate responses to what I am saying. One would be... Read more
“Speaking truth to power” is a worn-out catchword phrase. It has outlived its usefulness. We should bury it in an unmarked grave and forget where we put it. Freedom and Truth Freedom, it has been said, is the ability to declare that two plus two equals four. There is no liberty in claiming two plus two equals five. It is a lie, unreal, and impossible. Truth does indeed bring freedom. Truth ignores our desires for comfort and our wishful thinking.... Read more
Being a pastor for more years than I care to think about, I have witnessed churches embrace hate. I do not mean to imply that they have not also embraced love and goodness too. The concentration on hatred derived from a desire to uphold the good life and love of one’s own nation. This is where things went haywire. Embracing Hate The Christians who embraced hate did not see themselves doing it. They listened to people who claimed to defend... Read more
Early in recovery, addicts and alcoholics find the holidays very difficult. While in active addiction, people navigate through a strait of crashing currents and are relieved to be on the other side of the calendar. While in early recovery the same people are now looking for a passage through the holidays. We think it should be easier, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy. The Recovery Assumption Families, friends, and people in recovery suffer from bad assumptions about what life out... Read more
Have you ever considered the difference between oaths and vows? What Is An Oath? An oath is a pledge to uphold a standard or goal. Candidates for public office may take an oath to uphold and defend the laws of the community. A person declares an oath to bind one’s self to upholding the truth or faith. Oaths are offered to promote the veracity of something being said or claimed. A person lives “up to” an oath. What Are Vows?... Read more
What are human beings? Are we the crowning point of all Creation? Are we a virus infecting the earth? We may be neither of these things. These are the questions that inform how we think of other human beings. The Biblical command to love our neighbors appears to require qualifiers in many people’s thinking. Many of these qualifiers were summed up in the question the scribe asked Jesus in Luke chapter 10, “Who is my neighbor?” The question prompts Jesus... Read more
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“And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10: 29b NRSVUE) Where are we hiding? What are we hiding from? The scribe who asked this question tried hiding in nuances. We often hear that we are 6 or 7 people removed from knowing everyone in the world. The 6 degrees of separation principle may be true. I do not know. The recent deaths in the Texas floods brought up this idea when I learned that I knew someone who knew someone whose... Read more
“When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain.” (John 6:15) Ask yourself a serious question. Why did Jesus avoid being made a king? The answer most of us hear in Sunday School is, “the crowd tried to make him an earthly king.” It supposedly would not be the kind of king Jesus was not to become. Maybe a heavenly one? Somehow I doubt that... Read more
Bad theology makes bad politics, and bad politics makes worse theology. This truth is easy to pinpoint when we see it on T-shirts, car stickers, and spilling from the mouths of elected officials. The slogan is “Heaven has a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders.” This is an example of one’s political position informing one’s theology. Nationalist Theology Christian nationalism purports to be an ideology influenced by Christian teaching. At best, it distorts Christian teaching and cannot usually be... Read more
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