Seeing Beneath the Surface

by | Jun 23, 2015 | Uncategorized

We have a tendency to see each other only superficially (which means we don’t really see each other at all). The Apostle Paul described this superficial seeing as “the human point of view.”From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even...

The Open Wound and the Dream of Beloved Community

by | Jun 18, 2015 | Uncategorized

I grew up in metropolitan Atlanta in the 1960s and 1970’s (I graduated from a high school in south Fulton County in 1975).  Atlanta was, of course, the hometown of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So, when I was in elementary school, news about his work, about the...

With a Limp

by | Jun 16, 2015 | Uncategorized

The little town of Erwin, TN has what it calls a “Linear Trail” which runs parallel to, and between, I-26 and the railroad tracks.  It variously skirts the edge of an industrial park, borders a neighborhood, goes along open pasture, and, most beautifully,...

To Call Ourselves Beloved

by | Jun 11, 2015 | Uncategorized

We want to be known and to know, to be understood and to understand, and, most of all, to be loved and to love.  We want to feel cradled close to our mother’s breast, to feel our father’s strong-gentle embrace, to hear her sing us into peaceful sleep, and to...

Healing our Relationship with Time

by | Jun 9, 2015 | Uncategorized

Is time on our side?  Or is the clock against us?Some people are on good terms with time. They’re able to gauge how long a task will take, and they’ve learned how important it is to schedule a bit of margin into their days so that they can accommodate...

Never Alone

by | Jun 3, 2015 | Uncategorized

As I walked downtown this past Sunday morning, no buskers played their fiddles, performed magic tricks, or shaped balloon sculptures.  No trolley tours rolled by. Children weren’t playing in “Splashville’s” fountains.  Bocce Ball games hadn’t started in...

Everyday Trinity

by | May 31, 2015 | Uncategorized

 “Threes” seem to pervade our experience.In The Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe, Michael Schneider noted that ancient mathematicians thought of the numbers “one” and “two” as the parents of all the other numbers. “Three” was their firstborn....

We End in Light

by | May 28, 2015 | Uncategorized

Sometimes, the tragedy, violence, suffering, and despair which fill the world overwhelm me, and I can’t help but ask, “Where is God?”There’s no greater theological and emotional problem than “the problem of evil”: If God is all-loving and all-powerful, why do evil,...

Spirit of Rejoicing and Reconciliation

by | May 24, 2015 | Uncategorized

Priest and paleontologist, Teilhard de Chardin said that “Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God.”Jesus was a person of unmistakable and contagious joy which flowed from his unswerving conviction that God is love and loves everyone—no exceptions, no...