I’ve been contemplating this simple quote from Richard Rohr: “I think some experience of God is necessary for mental and emotional health. You basically don’t belong in the universe until you are connected to the center and the whole, and a word for that is “God.” When you live in the false self you are “eccentric,” or off-center. You’re trying to make something the Center that is not the center—yourself or anything else. It will never work. Thus the only... Read more
This Sunday morning hundreds of pastors will participate in what is being called, “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” The program is the creation of a conservative political action group called the Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund (you can read a little bit about them here). The agenda behind Pulpit Freedom Sunday is to entice pastors to openly endorse a presidential candidate from their pulpit during a Sunday morning worship service, then to send evidence of the endorsement... Read more
Last night’s first presidential debate was a great night for challenger Mitt Romney. He was the only one on the stage who looked like he knew what he was there to do (including Jim Lehrer). While Romney tenaciously attacked the president and continued to spin the GOP narrative, Obama sleepwalked through the entire night. He seemed caught off guard by Romney’s articulate message, and completely unprepared to match it with a message of his own. While Romney was passionate and... Read more
I ran across this old Rich Mullins quote in a sermon I wrote a couple of years ago. When Rich died he was single and had never married, although he had been engaged for awhile earlier in his life. He was definitely a solitary man in one sense, and I know that that was hard on him. I think it is part of the means by which he was able to channel so much emotion into his songwriting. This quote... Read more
A friend of mine sent me this today. It’s been working on me ever since I read it: Solitude is something quite different from individualism. In individualism there is a large measure of withdrawal at the level of thoughts and interests, in order to ensure a life of quiet privacy. Others may come and knock on the door, but if the individualist opens to them, it is as one who does a favor, as one who graciously adds, so to... Read more
I confess that just after college, I once donated plasma so that I could by a pizza. I confess that comparison is my favorite sin (you may not think comparison is a sin, but it is the way I do it), and it causes me constant trouble. I confess that one fourth of all prisoners in American jails are there because of nonviolent drug offenses. I confess that African Americans represent 12% of drug users, but makeup 59% of those... Read more
Here’s a little Richard Rohr for your Sunday Morning: “Contemplation,” or meditation as it is called by some, became more popular in contemporary times through the writings of Thomas Merton. The word most Christians were more familiar with was simply “prayer.” Unfortunately, in the West prayer became something functional; something you did to achieve a desired effect—which puts you back in charge. As soon as you make prayer a way to get something, you’re not moving into a new state... Read more
For your Friday Enjoyment… Read more
I found this article via my friend Ginny (shout out to Ginny who reads this blog :-)). It was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and was reprinted at Reason.com – a site I’m not familiar with. I had to share it because it makes me laugh – mostly at myself! I didn’t reproduce the whole thing, so please visit the Richmond Times-Dispatch to read the end of the article. The past several weeks have made one thing crystal-clear: Our... Read more
Today is the national See You At the Pole prayer event. If you don’t know what it is, just Google it. When I was touring with my band Satellite Soul, we played nearly every year at a See You At the Pole rally somewhere in the states. There was always something about it that made me a little bit nervous, but for a long time I didn’t have the language to describe my intuitions. I’ve tried to sum it up... Read more
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