2013-09-23T13:04:13-04:00

Last updated on: September 23, 2013 at 1:04 pm   By

Lectionary Reflections for September 29, 2013 Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 I Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31 Today’s scriptures present both challenge and hope.  They root our hope in our relationship with God.  Those who commit themselves to God’s cause can imagine futures and act on their imagination, even if the arc of imagination goes beyond their lifetimes.  They can face illness, external threat, and death knowing that God’s providence encompasses them.  Life apart from a relationship with God eventually leads... Read more

2013-09-19T11:41:40-04:00

Last updated on: September 19, 2013 at 11:41 am   By

Adam Bucko, who, along with Matthew Fox, is author of Occupy Spirituality, asserts: “All social movements, across generations, need spirituality.  A solid spirituality is one that enables people to energize their moral imagination, to make their motives conscious, and to use and deepen their talents to give birth to a new tomorrow.”  These are good and challenging words for social activists, who often separate action and contemplation and spirituality and social change in two distinct and often conflicting worlds.  Bucko... Read more

2013-09-17T14:10:13-04:00

Last updated on: September 17, 2013 at 2:10 pm   By

Lectionary Reflections for September 22, 2013 Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 Psalm 79:1-9 1Timothy 2:1-7   Luke 16:1-13 Today’s scriptures reflect on the social consequences of turning away from God and the possibility that prayer and God-centered values can be a source of health in our personal and corporate lives. A transformed mind may lead over the long haul to transformed social systems. Jeremiah paints the picture of a prophet with a broken heart. The people are in pain; the nation is in... Read more

2013-09-16T11:37:40-04:00

Last updated on: September 16, 2013 at 11:37 am   By

The specific questions raised here are: “Does the omnipresent God continue to act in the lives of persons with Alzheimer’s? Does God continue to work in the lives of persons with Alzheimer’s, or does this disease somehow render God’s presence null and void?” Or, in simpler language, “Where is God in Alzheimer’s?” Read more

2013-09-15T19:16:37-04:00

Last updated on: September 15, 2013 at 7:16 pm   By

The healing and guidance we need, Valente aptly notes, may come from “simply listening to the voice of God.” That voice is everywhere, but it is found most especially in the monastery of the soul where God provides possibilities, insights, and the energy to embody them in the concreteness and bustle of life. Read more

2013-09-15T19:17:34-04:00

Last updated on: September 15, 2013 at 7:17 pm   By

I am daily reminded of the truths revealed in chaos theory’s metaphorical “ butterfly effect.” According to the butterfly effect, small actions, such as a butterfly flapping its wings in Santa Cruz, California, where I played as a high school and college student, can shape the weather patterns in Cape Cod, where now I live, write, and pastor a congregation. This is one of the nuggets of wisdom I found in reading Laura Sumner Truax’s Undone. Small actions, authentic, yet imperfect,... Read more

2013-09-09T12:58:40-04:00

Last updated on: September 9, 2013 at 12:58 pm   By

Lectionary Reflections for September 15, 2013 Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10 Pardon and Punishment Today’s readings contrast punishment and grace.  The Hebraic scriptures describe God annihilating an unfaithful nation.  God is the agent of national catastrophe, aiming at punishing the unjust wealthy for their abuse of the poor.  Those who deny God’s existence, as the Psalm notes, will suffer the consequences of their misbehavior.  The Psalmist identifies belief in God with relational and economic justice.   The Epistle and... Read more

2013-09-06T13:19:24-04:00

Last updated on: September 6, 2013 at 1:19 pm   By

To me, being a grandparent is a spiritual and ethical vocation that begins with my two little grandsons and expands to honor every child. Read more

2013-09-06T13:13:13-04:00

Last updated on: September 6, 2013 at 1:13 pm   By

Jack Graham’s Unseen: Angels, Satan, Heaven, Hell, and Winning the War for Eternity is a must-read for anyone who wishes to learn about traditional images of the afterlife and the spiritual world. Although I take a very different theological and biblical bath, Graham well represents a literalist understanding of scripture, and that in itself is worth the read, purely to gain awareness of a certain type of Christian thinking. I use the term “certain type of Christian thinking,” because neither... Read more

2013-09-03T13:55:50-04:00

Last updated on: September 3, 2013 at 1:55 pm   By

The Adventurous Lectionary for September 8, 2013   Sacrifice and Artistry: Human and Divine Today’s passages require careful theological navigation.  They have often been interpreted to justify the violence of divine omnipotence and a divine omniscience that fully determines the details of our lives from conception to death.  Moreover, they have been interpreted in ways that polarize God and the world.  We cannot deny the hard sayings of scripture nor should we render them irrelevant by discounting their challenge to... Read more

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