(6 minutes) Over seventy years ago J. G. Bennett observed that we tend to see ourselves primarily in the light of our intentions, which are invisible to others, while we see others mainly in the light of their actions, which are visible to us. And so, he suggests, we often… Continue reading
(13 minutes) My ethics professor was Henlee Barnette. Barnette was from North Carolina and never abandoned his blue collar background nestled in the textile industry of the South. He was a wily, crusty old man who could argue circles around not only his students but fellow ethicists. He intimidated his… Continue reading
There is much talk about the need for a revival in the church today. The only revival I believe worth pursuing is one which is willing to be embraced by the divine imagination of a new creation. We need the alternatives Jesus offered just as much as those early disciples did. We need not remain paralyzed and stunted by our stymied hopes and defeatist expectations. Continue reading
Does John have more in mind with the symbol of the palm branches? I think he does. Continue reading
Perhaps the message we North American Christians need to hear most in the entire New Testament is contained in these words: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed.” Continue reading
We are all stardust, and that realization grants us the necessary humility, attention, and belonging we need. But it’s also critical that we get our bearings and remember not only where we’ve been but also that we chart a wise and helpful course as we decide where we are going. Continue reading
(7 minutes) History is not a blind alley, and guilt is not an abyss. There is always a way that leads out of guilt: repentance or turning to God. The prophet is a person who, living in dismay, has the power to transcend his dismay. Over all the darkness of… Continue reading
I would like to approach joy beginning with some of the words people confuse with joy and see how joy is different from these spiritual counterfeits. Perhaps backing into joy this way will allow us to gain a fresh understanding and useful appreciation of what Pierre Teilhard de Chardin called “the most unmistakable sign of the presence of God.” Continue reading
The only way I know to address the selfishness and greed of our society is to question some of the assumptions held closest and dearest to our hearts. And seldom does any culture do that voluntarily. Almost always such a change comes only through catastrophe. Continue reading
(14 minutes) In a scene from N. Richard Nash’s play called The Rainmaker, two people have a conversation in a rural area during the drought-stricken Great Depression. Starbuck, the dreamer of dreams that almost never come true, complains to Lizzy about a world in which reality falls far short of… Continue reading
