In an electrifying game the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers to become Super Bowl champions of 2013. As Baltimore holds celebrations for their winning sons, reporters will look to uncover any tantalizing details into strategy that won the big game. Case in point, The…
What if Jesus were gay?
Wendell Berry has effectively stirred the pot. In my homestate, Kentucky, at my alma mater, Georgetown College, Berry spoke about gay marriage. He spoke to the cultural palpitations revealing a diseased spirit. It’s a spirit steeped in hate, and maligned…
In good company (or, the futility of theodicy)
It was the innocence of the twenty youngest victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, all the ages of my son and his first-grade classmates, which made this latest mass shooting most enduringly haunting. Their innocence also underscores the…
Green Day: on Holiday
The holiday season has reached its peak. Decorations, parties, calories and music abound. Some of this music is soul inspiring. I am warmed each time I hear Sheryl Crow’s “Blue Christmas”, The Barenaked Ladies’ “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” or…
Mourning with those who mourn
Like the rest of the country, I watched the news in shock and disbelief just days ago as unspeakable headlines scrolled along the bottom of the screen: “School shooting in Newtown, CT;” “Gunman attacks elementary school;” “More than 20 feared…
Where Christmas music originates
Christmas songs are among the popular music in the world. Music historians believe the first explicitly Christmas hymns were composed in Rome in the 4th century. However, in Luke 1:46-56 we find a story culminating in Mary’s song, the first…
Grassroot campaigns and the Church
“The Kingdom of God is like a grassroots political campaign,” said Jesus, never. If I were a betting man (and I’m not) I would be willing to wager that had Jesus known about grassroots campaigning that’s exactly what he would have used….
Your Kingdom Come…
I’ve been thinking about one phrase in The Lord’s Prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The longer I ponder the words, the more I become convinced of a few matters. The…
Redefining what it means to be great
Pride is essentially competitive; it’s competitive by its very nature. We are not prideful because we are rich, clever, or good-looking. We are prideful because we think we are richer, clever-er, and better-looking. It’s the comparison that makes us proud….