“To live in the twentieth century is to wear the stitch of horror on one’s heart, so close are we to the edge of violence.” — Martin Marty Marty wrote those words in the shadow of World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Cold War. I was born in the twentieth century but I …
Tag: christianity
Finding What I Wasn’t Looking For
This morning I was chatting with the SMP vicar I am supervising and a book recommendation popped into my head. I went to my shelf and couldn’t find it. I know I have it, but I can’t find it. Such is life when your kids art adorns your selves and the order you initially put …
Surprise and Delight
When I worked at Apple, well over a decade and a half ago, we had a bin in the back of unused parts from newly opened boxes. Headphones, charging cables, and other odd bits and bobs filled it to the brim. We called it the “surprise and delight” box because if a customer came in …
If he wins, the synod loses…
If he wins, the synod loses. That’s why you should vote for Matt Harrison. If he wins, the synod loses. That’s why you should vote for Ben Ball. If he wins, the synod loses. That’s why you should vote for Joel Biermann. If he wins, the synod loses. That’s why you shouldn’t vote at all. …
What is possible…
Speaking about slavery in the past and present, Pope Leo XIV wrote the following in his latest encyclical Magnifica Humanitas: In the development of her doctrine, the Church has gradually come to a deeper awareness of the gravity of these issues. It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria …
Wondering Whether to Speak
Lent is a time when a pastor does not need to add one more thing to the schedule. Anyone who has been a pastor knows that. This isn’t a complaint, it is a reality. Work doubles in Lent. Advent is a sprint, Lent is a marathon, and adding to the marathon is less than ideal. …
Love in the Mess
“Life in the church at Corinth was a mess and getting messier.” Not much, it seems, has changed. As if the normal schisms and heresies that distress the church weren’t enough, my own church body is in the news because one of our district presidents was arrested by federal agents for crimes against children. There …
Losing the Power to Question
Some time ago, a ladies bible study at the congregation I serve invited me to come and spend time with them because they had some questions and hoped I had some answers. I disabused them of that notion rather quickly in part because the questions they had didn’t have clear cut answers. Why? Because they …
A Christmas Prayer
LITANY OF THE INCARNATION O Jesus Christ, the Lord of all good life, who hast called us to build the city of God, enrich and purify our lives, and deepen in us our discipleship. Help us daily to know more of Thee that through us, by the power of Thy Spirit, Thou mayest show forth …
Grateful
I know that the week of Christmas is not the time many go around the table and say what they are thankful for but it probably should happen more than just one day a year. This year, one of the things I am grateful for is a church body that cares about doctrine and those …
an occasional theologian 