Themes

• Amazing GraceAutumn ConceptBlueBlackExcelFalling LeavesIsland After SunsetPlatinumVidiyal

Tags

barack_obama beauty climate_change death_penalty earth faith follow_jesus forgiveness god grace human_dignity human_rights humility interrogation iraq jesus justice love movie peace politics poverty prayer revenge rule_of_law stoney terrorism torture ucc war

• Recently Written

  • not my world
  • conflict and community
  • “miah and friends”
  • an extremely regressive tax
  • one more state gives up the death penalty
  • killing bin laden
  • kilauea erupts
  • becoming our own worst enemy
  • illegal to love your neighbor in arizona?
  • easter sunrise 2010

• Recent Comments

  • Emavel D.: Death penalty is a good verdict for a criminal. So that it is good and it just shows how big and unlawful...
  • gabzo: This is my new fave song! so beautiful! that is exactly what happened to me! Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Eric the courier: After listening to Jesus tell this parable, can we possibly think that Jesus means the church to...
  • Rev Arthur R Stees: Harriet: I love your O’Henry-type story, “He’d Come Here” and will be...
  • Victor: This fits I think with the Buddhist concept of letting go.

• Admin

  • Log in
  • Wordpress
  • XHTML

Subscribe

a moral imperative for victims?

Posted on August 18, 2005 | Filed Under humility, justice 

When hateful people produce lasting hatred in us … hate wins. When violent people make us violent … violence wins. When cruel people leave us with nothing but a burning desire for revenge in our minds and hearts … cruelty wins. When evil done to us gives birth to evil done by us … evil wins.

As I drove to work this morning, I listened to reports on NPR of the Israeli pullout from the Gaza strip. I heard interviews with militant Palestinians who credited the pullout to the armed resistance alone, giving no credit to the political process, showing no …

i never really liked frank sinatra

Posted on August 16, 2005 | Filed Under arts and culture, humility 

I was a generation too late to be much exposed to the music of Frank Sinatra, but I have heard enough and seen enough to know that I don’t like it. Sinatra’s style and demeanor evoke an image that is antithetical to values I hold especially dear. He is about the big city; I love open spaces. He is about life in the fast lane; I crave a life filled with energy and passion and excitement — a fast life, but a life traveling down an entirely different road! He has the swagger; I admire a man — or a …

poor in spirit

Posted on July 8, 2005 | Filed Under humility, religious language, simplicity 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven …

In Luke’s version, Jesus says, Blessed are you who are poor. Luke draws attention to Jesus’ offer of grace and favor to those people human society has cast aside. Luke celebrates Jesus’ stirring announcement of good news to the poor — to those who are quite literally poor. But in Matthew’s version, Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in spirit … Meaning those who recognize their own spiritual bankruptcy, who realize their desparate need for God’s grace and forgiveness? Probably …

But what if the word poor …

with boldness and humility

Posted on July 5, 2005 | Filed Under tolerance, ucc 

Two week before the opening of the United Church of Christ General Synod in Atlanta, I expressed my hopes for the coming deliberations:

May the Holy Spirit lead our church as we struggle with difficult issues, as we seek to know the mind of Christ. May we act with all boldness, and love each other with all humility …

It seems that my wish has come true. Reports from General Synod describe an especially solemn and respectful and careful deliberation on the issue of same-gender marriage, from committee work through the floor debate and the final delegate vote. The UCC …

i have a dream

Posted on June 20, 2005 | Filed Under favorite posts, humility, religious language, tolerance 

I have a dream …

Like the dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is a dream about reconciliation. It is a dream about two groups of people divided by history and culture and prejudice learning to live together, to respect each other, to recognize the strength and beauty in each other, to work alongside each other to make the world new.

I dream of reconciliation between “progressive” Christians and “evangelical” Christians. I use these particular terms because they are the terms the two groups use to identify themselves. I put the terms in quotes, however, because the …

finding a way through a no-win situation

Posted on June 16, 2005 | Filed Under humility, justice, ucc 

But this summer, the UCC will take up an issue that is as explosive and divisive as any it has considered in its almost fifty year history.

true Christian?

Posted on May 14, 2005 | Filed Under favorite posts, humility, spirituality 

True Christians know that all they are and all they have comes by grace. They know they must look outside themselves for wisdom and direction. They know that personal value is not earned or won, but is bestowed, a gift from God thanks to the obedience and sacrifice of Jesus.

« go back

Comments