Of all the idols in the world perhaps that most insidious and subtle is the idol of good character. In making this assertion I don’t mean to deny the importance of being genuinely good, neither do I want to undermine focused efforts to grow and develop as a person. I do, however, want to draw [...]

Sometimes I think our own souls are an abyss of eternal longing that will swallow and crush us like a black hole if we do not learn by faith to set our longing upon God.

The thematic thread running through today’s lectionary was forgiveness, which struck me as both apropos and challenging on this day, the day of the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America that fell the Twin Towers, that took down a plane in Pennsylvania, and that took out a wing of the Pentagon. It is [...]

It’s 5:30 in the morning, but on other nights it’s been three, or four in the morning and I wake up reviewing my life, not as a matter of conscious choice, but as if my soul was already in the act and at the time of waking I am merely becoming aware of what was [...]

Sometimes I am stabbed by a notion of grace that at once utterly undermines the fallen instincts of all secular ideologies and all religious striving and yet completely upholds genuine human integrity and completely defines and fulfills our deepest desire for freedom and love. When I am confronted by this grace I am astonished by [...]

Theocratus: On the other side of this wall is everything you truly need, blessing without limit, and unspeakable joy. Catachumen: How do I get in, as it’s far too tall to climb, its foundation is far too deep, and it stretches in both directions as far as the eye can see? Theocratus: ——-

Theocratus: Now that you have been given a clear picture of where you need to go, don’t forget to start from the right place. Catachumen: Where’s that? Theocratus: I’m not going to tell you.

Jesus died naked on the cross. His nakedness was an expression of our nakedness and poverty, a nakedness and poverty we have violently tried to cover through the works of our hands. It was this violent covering that was at work through the religious hands of the Jews, and the civil hands of the Romans [...]

Brother Kevin sent me a link to a video of Johnny Cash’s cover of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt”, and I must say, Cash made the song his. Yes, I like Reznor’s version, but the song seems more poignant coming from one who at the end of his life is looking back at the empire he built [...]

Periodically, I visit a blog titled Faith and Theology, which is written by Benjamin Myers, a theologian and scholar who teaches at Charles Sturt University’s School of Theology, located in Sydney Australia. In his own words his blog “is a forum for conversations about theology, books and culture” and so, it’s no wonder why I [...]