God, thank you for the parking spot, and the tsunami.
About as close to a statement of faith I can muster these days: The Rev. Tom Honey on God the Almighty TED Talks
I keep coming back to this.
Popular atheist, Sam Harris criticizes Christians because they are often motivated to feed the hungry, love their enemy, etc. not because of their love for people, but because of their fear of God's wrath. This is akin to how I love. I am driven by my fear of pain; I'll keep you happy enough to prevent my own hurt, disappointment, embarrassment, or strife. At my very best I can choose to love someone because they are God's creation, or they ...
I eat pieces of AM radio for breakfast.
I've been taking peeks at good ol' AM talk radio lately and my two favorites are 770 "The Truth" and 1090 "Progressive Talk"--and by favorite I mean most ridiculous. Their rhetoric is absurd and clearly thrives on the demonization of the other. I wonder if the fever has risen simply because they sense their Modern categories of "truth" and "objectivity" are fading; life and politics just aren't as simple as they would like us to believe. To ...
This is the best we could find?
To this lad there isn't much to cheer about when it comes to politics. I hear time and again that to bring about systemic change, to work for justice, you must be involved in the political process. I have dear friends in social work who occasionally ask for help spreading the word or emailing a congressperson, and I wholeheartedly support those on the front lines championing ideals or fighting for the less fortunate. This is the aim of politics, ...
The devil’s parking lot.
A friend had this response to my recent frustration with prayer--specifically my disdain towards those who: ask God for good parking spots at the airport, get their spot, and declare such provision as God's goodness (true story, and while extreme, I must admit it revealed my distaste for heavenly petitions). "Doesn't it make a lot more sense that God would take care of the people who have enough faith to accept life as it comes, whereas Satan ...
A blog is not a bludgeon.
I've made what turns out to be an enticing and typical blogging mistake: in the name of honesty, I've purged my intimate guts and consequently made this blog an unhealthy dumping ground. This blog is not supposed to supplant the real me, nor is it fair to disclose certain dark spots for my readers and friends to clean up. I've found myself reticent to speak with God these days cause really, my blog has served the purpose of ache, inquiry, and ...
Selective reading.
Thomas Jefferson famously clipped out pieces of Scripture he didn't care for. I think this bit from Ephesians ranks pretty high for me (never mind the stuff on genocide or hell). A favorite pastor of mine used it as his benediction and it always made me squirm. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout ...
Buried under sadness and guilt.
Last night found me viewing pornography; the following morning I badly tweaked my back bending over to tie my shoes. My first thought: God is unhappy with me and is reminding me of my status as a sinful, prideful, nasty little creature. Why not? Blessings for obedience, curses for disobedience. I think they call it justice. Wouldn't it be nice to have an hour with Jesus every year or so. I'd ask my questions and he'd tell me how the answers ...
From across the pond.
It is always odd to call out profundity, perhaps ironic, but this advert is strange and beautiful. Thoughts of theology are not far from mind. [click here]