Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind
As I see social media posts and read stories and blogs, I grow more convinced that we choose our own reality. As Father Richard Rohr expressed, “People with a distorted image of self, world, or God will be largely incapable of experiencing what is Really Real in the world. They’ll see instead what they need …
I would really like to believe that the suffering invested in the civil rights movement has paid dividends in putting racism behind us. That is delusional, of course, yet it’s curious that some of the racist stuff we see comes from those who claim it’s not a problem anymore. Instead, racism has evolved into a …
When something seems clear-cut to me, and a person believes something different, one question comes to my mind: Why don’t they see it as clearly as they should? This question reveals my arrogance and self-righteousness, of course. The person with whom I disagree is thinking the same thing about me. Hence our human dilemma. A …
Carry each other’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ. — Galatians 6:2 The horror of the elementary school murders in Uvalde has followed the script with which we’ve become all too familiar. Shock. Pain. Grief. Sorrow. Outrage. Calls for gun restrictions. Thoughts and prayers. There was one reaction that surprised me, though. …
Good Friday is an enigma. “Good”, describing the day an innocent man died horribly, is a weird tag. But maybe it’s good when seen within the context of three other words that begin with “G.” Gently. Fear is the residue of imagining we can control things and then realizing we can’t. Instead of scrubbing every …
After Jesus said these things, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going away and as they were staring toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood next to them. They said, “Galileans, why are you standing here, looking toward heaven?…” (Acts 1:9-11a) …
Jesus began to cry. – John 11:35 It’s the strangest thing. I find myself tearing up more as I grow older. It’s not sentimental crying, like I always do at the end of Field of Dreams (“Hey Dad—wanna play catch?”). No, the tears today come out of nowhere and catch me by surprise. This morning …
Sometimes I mistake wishful thinking for Christian hope. I like to believe that the world is incrementally inching down a path leading to the kingdom values Jesus talked about. Becoming more aware of issues, confronting injustice in varying forms, advocating for climate stewardship: all these things, aided by technology and instant communication, are hopeful. Then …
In the quest to be broadminded, I’m reading two opposing books. One is Newt Gingrich’s Beyond Biden: Rebuilding the America We Love. The other is Jon Meacham’s The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels. I want to see the underlying assumptions of each writer, and why they write what they write. I …
A popular political cartoon has a man holding two signs. On one: “No Mask Mandate! My body. My choice.” On the second: “No Abortion After 6 Weeks. Her body. My choice.” This is, of course, hypocritical. How can you plead for freedom from government regulation at times, and for it at others? Yet, the cartoon …