Debra Darvick: Blessing Our Children: 'May You Be Like...'
For going on nearly three decades now, as part of our family’s Friday evening Shabbat dinner ritual, my husband and I have blessed our children.
Anne Howard: A Word in Time: Time for the Long Breath
We’re about halfway through Lent now, heading toward the Fourth Sunday this week. In these weeks, I’ve written about this 40-day journey that begins with that smudge of ash, the challenge to be a blessing, and the opportunity to question.
Hope
I could give only one word... the word I would give is hope...
Brett Webb-Mitchell: How Pilgrimage Teaches Us About Lent
While I am usually drawn either to surrender or take on new during Lent, my attention this year is on the high incidence of traveling metaphors commonly used by writers, speakers, pastors, and priests alike, when describing Lent. The intent of using this language is to assist believers in focusing on the progress or process of transformation in this hallowed season.
Faith, health, and peace
Shannon Trilli, Global Health director for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) reflects on the church's role in the promotion of health and peace.
Paul Raushenbush: Noah: A Midrash by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel (Interview)
When Darren Aronofsky was 13, he wrote a poem inspired by the biblical story of Noah that won an award from the United Nations and was part of a lifelong quest to bring the story to the big screen. After 10 years of trying to develop the project in Hollywood, Darren Aronofsky and co-writer and producer Ari Handel will introduce their interpretation of Noah to the world this Friday when the movie opens across the country.
Carol Howard Merritt: Spiritual Themes in "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt
Yesterday, I was removed from the hazy world of The Goldfinch. Though the book is quite lengthy, it felt like it wasn't quite long enough. Don't get me wrong, the ending was satisfying, I just wanted to linger in the rich work that Donna Tartt created.
Darkwood Brew: The Great Convergence: What's So Great? Part 8
'The Great Convergence: What's So Great?' takes its cue from Phoenix Affirmation #8: Walking humbly with God, acknowledging our own shortcomings while honestly seeking to understand and call forth the best in others, including those who consider us their enemies. In part 8, Eric Elnes leads the conversation with guests on 'The Gifts of Eden.'
Kenneth Samuel: Older, and Sometimes Wiser
So many of our hopes and dreams for the future are fastened upon the young. We look to youth and young ideas to lead us out of the quagmires of jaded routines and parochial paradigms.
Steve McSwain: Is the Bible Literally True?
To me, the Bible is important. It is for me the sacred story of the origins of my faith. In light of this, I could no more feel as if it were unimportant than a follower of Hinduism would feel the Bhagavad Gita is unimportant. I do not believe, however, that the Bible is a Divinely-dictated book or a sacred text without error.
Fred Phelps has died
My take on a Christian's appropriate response to the death of Fred Phelps.
Weekly Sermon Illustration: Darkness
In our blog post every Monday we select a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, and pair it with a Frederick Buechner reading on the same topic. On March 30, 2014 we will celebrate The Fourth Sunday in Lent.
Did I Say Anything About Anger?
Benjamin Pratt shares one caregiver's story and explores the idea and importance of forgiveness.
ON Scripture: Social Media and the Shepherd (Psalm 23) By Henry G. Brinton
One way to gain peace and serenity is to unplug for a day or even for a season. Lent challenges us to turn away from the infinite audiences of the Internet and direct our hearts and minds to the one audience who always wants to be connected to us: God.
Marcus Borg: Lent and the Cross
If you had asked me at the end of childhood, at age 12 or so, what this season was about, I am quite sure I would have said: Lent is about becoming intensely aware of our sinfulness and need for forgiveness, and Holy Week is about Jesus dying to pay for our sins so that we can be forgiven. In shorthand, that is the payment understanding of Jesus’s death.
Chuck Queen: To Imago Dei Leaders: Practice What You Preach
Sarah Pulliam Baily of the Religion News Service recently reported that six Christian leaders, including Focus on the Family President Jim Daly, have created a new coalition called 'Imago Dei,' Latin for 'image of God,' to encourage people to treat one another with respect.
Carl McColman: The Silence of the Heart - A Review of "Be Still and Know"
In its very last paragraph, Norris J. Chumley describes Be Still and Know, his new book on contemplative silence (hesychia), as a 'research study.' And therein lies what is both wonderful and frustrating about this book.
Anne Howard: A Word in Time: Risky Business
The Samaritan woman in this coming Sunday’s story from the Fourth Gospel is filled with questions, the kind of questions that she’s left unasked for decades.
Introduction to The Sacred Journey
This article is the introduction to Buechner's first memoir "The Sacred Journey" which was published in 1982.
David Lose: The Risk of Not Changing
You know the stats. The mainline church in North America has lost significant numbers of members over the last several decades. The ELCA alone suffered a 20% loss over the last fifteen years. This isn’t news. What is news – or what should be – is how little we’re doing about it.