by Guy Sayles | May 28, 2012 |
The opening page of the sermon I preached yesterday, as part of a service that combined celebration of Pentecost with the recognition of high school graduates British humorist P. G. Wodehouse said: “I always advise people never to give advice.” His advice about...
by Guy Sayles | May 24, 2012 |
As is well-known, in a debate over the payment of taxes, Jesus asserted that we are to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” George Weigel called this “a revolutionary text” [“The Christian Citizen and Democracy”...
by Guy Sayles | May 9, 2012 |
The Sufi poet Hafiz said: “Fear is the cheapest room in the house/I would like to see you living/In better conditions. . . . God wants to see/More love and playfulness in your eyes/For that is your greatest witness to the Divine.” Fear is the cheapest, shabbiest, and...
by Guy Sayles | Apr 26, 2012 |
Sometimes, we need to set-aside efficiency for the sake of love and to sacrifice success for the sake of faithfulness. There are some things so right and good, so significant and wonderful, that we have to do them, no matter what. We “know” that they matter, even if...
by Guy Sayles | Apr 16, 2012 |
In an essay about the 2000 presidential election, David Foster Wallace wondered why so many potential voters, especially younger ones, seemed so “uninterested in politics.” He concluded that, more than anything else, younger people found politics boring and...
by Guy Sayles | Apr 13, 2012 |
Following are remarks I made at the April 12, 2012 meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Education. While the statement is content-specific, it does reflect my basic approach to the issue of religion in the public schools. By the way, the School Board voted to adopt...
by Guy Sayles | Apr 6, 2012 |
Writer and Lutheran minister Walt Wangerin told about finding his son reading a big stack of comic books. “Where did those come from?” “I took them from the library.” “You mean you borrowed them?” “No. . .” So Wangerin marched his son to the library and made him...
by Guy Sayles | Apr 4, 2012 |
We were created for worship and fashioned for praise. Tortured genius and brilliant critic of the church, Frederick Nietzsche, believed that human beings are driven by a will to power. We are, he said, desperate to have a sense of mastery over the sinister, unseen but...
by Guy Sayles | Mar 29, 2012 |
Not long ago, I had to make a hurried trip to Atlanta and back. As I traveled, I noticed the restaurants and fast food joints, or signs for them, which line our interstate highways. Appleby’s, Arby’s, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Chili’s, Church’s Chicken,...
by Guy Sayles | Mar 23, 2012 |
Would you please give it a rest? Try to settle-down. Loosen up. Lighten up a little. Ease off. Back off. Whoa, wait a minute, time out. Give me a break. Chill out. If you’re hearing these kinds of things more often lately, there’s a pretty good chance you’re missing a...
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