As on that mountain, as in this year, all our plans are overthrown, and following Jesus doesn’t look the way it did before.
Truly Alien
I was in Lexington, KY, in May of 1977 with my 2 younger brothers when Grandpa Wetzel dropped us off at the theater to see what he said was “Winnie-the-Pooh.”
Revising the Story of the First Thanksgiving
how can we receive the gifts history offers and use them to practice moral reflection, rather than judgement? Here’s the story we read as part of our celebration of an American Thanksgiving with church family and strangers from other shores.
Realists of a Larger Reality
“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.” – Ursala K. LeGuin
Establishing a New Kingdom
Most people in the ancient world, in fact, not just Jews, would have supposed that legitimacy came, ultimately, from what you did in office, not from the method by which you got there.
Purity & Love
“If only you saw what I can see, you’d understand why I need your modesty.”
So… virtue = being careful to stay out of the way of the sinfulness of young men. “That’s what makes you beautiful.” Got it.
The First Thanksgiving: Eight Lessons for Learning from History
Putting together a coherent story from evidence is hard work. No wonder we reach for story first and evidence after, unless the discipline of History can teach us better habits!
A Thanksgiving Book Club
An invitation to read with me through The First Thanksgiving: What the Real Story Tells Us About Loving God & Learning from History .
Ozeki’s “Tale” Entangles Readers
First sixteen pages
Seventeen footnotes ask, “Is
She making this up?”
Learning to Smell
“by practice alone…”
Wounded & Holy
Of course there is woundedness, but there is holiness as well. How the two come together — not which one wins, but how they join — constitutes the unique and profound meaning of one’s life: the emergence out of the maelstrom of the true self, transformed in Christ.
The Breastplate of St. Patrick
I bind unto myself the power /
Of the great love of the cherubim; /
The sweet ‘well done’ in judgment hour, /
The service of the seraphim, /
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word, /
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the Prophets’ scrolls, /
All good deeds done unto the Lord, /
And purity of virgin souls.