In all my planning for our section hike of the Appalachian Trail last week, I apparently only read the blogs that talked about the incredible views I would see along the way. Mountain peaks and rolling hills. If folks wrote…
What would happen if we set fear down?
You would think that after preaching almost four cycles of the Revised Common Lectionary a preacher would have at least one sermon on all the interesting texts that come around regularly. For some reason unknown to me, however, it turns…
The year clichés stopped making sense
There is something wrong with 2016. That may be the most self-evident and non-controversial statement to come up in your Facebook newsfeed in quite a while. In fact, it has become an almost universally acknowledged truth. So many of us…
Our political mantra: ‘Get out of here!’
On Saturday afternoon, walking through Harvard Square on the way to my church, I saw a Muslim woman in a long black garment and niqab. As I passed her, a man suddenly emerged from the crowd, aggressively shouting, “Get out of here! I said get out!”
When crisis prompts the question: ‘Lord, teach us how to pray’
Jesus tells us that one important way to pray is to pray through our action, working to ensure that the kingdom of God becomes a reality on earth. He says our way forward is to work to make this world better for others.
Do we know how to listen to one another?
If we are only interested in collecting the stories and experiences within our pews with no intention of allowing persons to affect change in our minds and in our communities, we continue to commit the sin of oppression.
Is God male?
Christians believe Jesus is the ultimate reflection of God, so is God also male? Centuries of European art has taught, normalized and legitimized how to see the Divine. But insisting on the maleness of God ignores the times God is depicted in feminine language.
What will it take to unite a divided U.S.? The answer might surprise you.
In the feature story of March’s Atlantic Monthly, James Fallows asks, “Can America Put Itself Back Together?” Fallows’ surprising good news is that he believes America can.
What makes life worth living?
Recently I had the privilege of attending a presentation at the Yale Club in New York City to hear a report on the project that seeks to ascertain what it means to live a well-lived life. At the heart of…
Worship: Good for what ails you
Reflecting on the recent annual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance in Vancouver, British Columbia, I was struck by two things: The deep hunger in my own life for corporate worship and the centrality of worship in our common life….
Relax your grip and you can go for miles
For most of my vocational life I’ve had to do battle with the overwhelming need to prove myself. This may have something to do with where I land on the Enneagram. As my fellow Threes will testify, “I succeed, therefore…
Genius hesitates, both in science and religion
In his fantastic little book, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, a kind of primer on modern physics meant for lay readers, Carlo Rovelli tells the story about how in 1905, a 26-year-old graduate student named Albert Einstein published three short…