The Exercise: Memorize Matthew 5:1-12 in The Message translation. The Why: The Beatitudes answer the question: who is well off? But too often the answers we get in some translations just lead to more confusion. Eugene Peterson’s The Message is a helpful tool in that it does more than merely translate the language, but also its meaning. Such work is never perfect, but it is helpful to use such translations to get a better idea of what was originally expressed... Read more
Take a break from economic life and rest in the work that’s already been done. Do not spend or carry money or any means of payment. Instead, take a day to exist in relationships outside of the money economy. What do those relationships look like? Read more
Today, the Anglican/Episcopal church celebrates the feast day of William Tyndale who brought the bible into the English language. His work, persecuted by the monarchy and Church, was eventually appropriated by both to become the King James Bible. Tyndale’s work was to bring the Gospel into his place and time–that was what translating the scriptures meant. The fear of his persecutors was that such a translation would transform the scriptures into something else, something less than or different from the... Read more
Eat no food and drink nothing with calories until 5 PM. During your meal times read and mediate on “The Beatitudes.” Read more
Spend one hour in silence–go to a park, take a walk, sit in a quiet room. Have no set agenda, but to be in silence in a world full of noise. Read more
A Review of The Right Church by Charles E. Gutenson There’s something about ancient wisdom. If you want to sell a book about spirituality you’re better off putting something like “unlocking the ancient secrets” rather than “revealing the cutting edge.” The cutting edge is where we live so much of our life, always jumping to the latest in technology, our iPhone’s always quickly obsolete, our computers constantly begging for an update and then an upgrade. We hunger for something deeper, something... Read more
Last month nearly three hundred people burned to death in a Pakistani clothing factory with dismal working conditions. In a global economy we are often too insulated from the people who make our clothes and provide us with our most basic daily goods. One of Ghandi’s experiments in truth was to work as much as possible to respect the products of labor. He would use a pencil down to the nib in order to honor the work of the one... Read more
Today, watch what you say. Specifically, as a witness in this election season keep yourself from saying the words that draw instant judgement without a lot of content–words like Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, fundamentalist, evangelical, mainline, etc. These are words that obscure more than helping to communicate, which at its base means to share. Seek instead to use language that shares ideas and brings others together. Write down the list of words you won’t use today and keep a tally... Read more
The whole of Colossians chapter 3 is a powerful exposition of how Christians should live as the church in the world. The verses we will seek to memorize this week, Colossians 3:12-14, sum up the whole of the passage. Notice the metaphor of clothing ourselves with love. Place this verse near where you dress each day and as you dress imagine clothing yourself with love. Read more
Today bring the rest of Sabbath to someone else. It could be a mother struggling with a child or a business person trying to balance a busy schedule or a clergy person burdened with the problems of others. The situations will vary, but it could be an offer to baby sit or treating someone to a meal or just asking someone to walk in a natural, calming place. Today don’t so much worry about your own rest as extending the... Read more
Word + Flesh
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