The Eagle & Child

Another classic by Bruce Cockburn: “World of Wonders”, and somewhat relevant to my last post, I think. Lyrics: Stand on a bridge before the cavern of night Darkness alive with possibility Nose to this wind full of twinkling lights Trying to catch the scent of what’s coming to be (in this…) World of wonders… Somewhere [...]

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how faint the whisper we hear of him! (Job 26:14, TNIV) * * * Here is bigger than you can imagine Now is forever (Bruce Cockburn) I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about pain and suffering and genocide and natural disasters and…God.  Without diminishing the pain and horror, and without denying the legitimacy of [...]

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The experiential reality of perceiving God is unfamiliar territory today.  The pace and preoccupation of urbanized, mechanized, collectivized, secularized modern life are such that any sort of inner life…is very hard to maintain…And if you attempt it, you will certain seem eccentric to your peers, for nowadays involvement in a stream of activities is decidedly [...]

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From Girl Meets God: I have written [in my prayer book] this, from Diana Eck’s Encountering God: The Latin credo means literally “I give my heart.”  The word believe is a problematic one today, in part because it has gradually changed its meaning from being the language of certainty so deep that I could give [...]

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As a part of the MDiv (Master of Divinity – said like this) program, I am required to take a course called “Theology and Practice of Christian Spirituality and Formation”.  It is a class studying the reason for and use of the spiritual disciplines (such as fasting, solitude, silence, the prayer of examen, etc.) Our first [...]

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Today I asked one of the seminary professors about some of the classes that will be offered in the 2010/2011 school year.  In the course of our conversation, he said that he encourages his students to be more concerned about getting an education than getting a degree.  This is good advice.  A person can get [...]

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(according to Lauren Winner) What you need for this sacrament [communion] is simple: just some bread and some wine, or grape juice. Grape juice became popular in the late nineteenth century, when temperance-advocating evangelicals realized they couldn’t call for a complete ban on potables if they were imbibing themselves at the altar on Sunday. They [...]

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One day, for no apparent reason, a young man’s horse ran away and was taken by nomads across the border.  Everyone tried to offer consolation for the man’s bad fortune, but his father, a wise man, said, “What makes you so sure this is not a blessing?” Months later, his horse returned, bringing with her [...]

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I went with some friends to see Avatar on Friday.  I had been pretty annoyed that it got so many Academy Award nominations, but I had not actually seen the film, so my annoyance was based on absolutely nothing.  I no longer feel that way.  It is an absolutely stunning film, in terms of immersive [...]

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Somehow or other last week I wound up at the Cafe Press website looking at this t-shirt. It reads: God said it. I interpreted it as best I could in light of all the filters imposed by my upbringing and culture, which I try to control for but you can never do a perfect job. [...]

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