From The Weight of Advent by Ian at Mockingbird [T]he prophetic word of Advent authorizes us to tell the truth about the world. As Edgar pronounces in the final scene of King Lear, “The weight of this sad time we must obey/ Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.” John the BaptizerContinue reading ““We sanitize what isn’t safe and therefore lose what is nutritious””
Category Archives: IM Recommended Reading
“Nothing can make us more blind to the Holy Spirit than the ordinary”
Each week during the winter months and until Easter, I preach to a little country congregation. The congregation is over 180 years old, the building 150. Like many small, rural churches, our pews are populated by members in the second half of life. We have a few children, fewer teens, a couple of college studentsContinue reading ““Nothing can make us more blind to the Holy Spirit than the ordinary””
Another Look: Let’s Go Marveling
Let’s go marveling. “This felicitous phrase is taken from the great Methodist preacher Fred Craddock, who tells of the ancestral practice of taking walks every Sunday afternoon and finding things to marvel at and to share with others” (Wm. P. Brown). A sense of wonder is essential to the attitude of thankfulness. It is whenContinue reading “Another Look: Let’s Go Marveling”
IM Recommended Reading: Late Migrations
I am reading a remarkable, luminous book by Margaret Renkl, called Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss. This book of meditations and and short essays reminds me of Annie Dillard’s writing, with its intermingling of nature observations and reflections on life. Maureen Corrigan said the following in her review: “Late Migrations isContinue reading “IM Recommended Reading: Late Migrations”
Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: On Changing the Subject
Sunday with Walter Brueggemann On Changing the Subject The test and norm is the reality of Jesus. Look at Jesus, because Jesus confronts all the throne talk of the world. You want to know about joy, and well-being, and truth, and goodness. Look at Jesus. Not being served, but serving. I have no doubt thatContinue reading “Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: On Changing the Subject”
Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: An Artistic Rendering of Life
Sunday with Walter Brueggemann An Artistic Rendering of Life For the work of teachers, preachers, and interpreters, an artistic rendering of life is now an urgent responsibility, not only because of the character of the text but because of our social-cultural-moral circumstance. The community gathered around this text (in church, in synagogue, in religion department)Continue reading “Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: An Artistic Rendering of Life”
Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: To Relish the Generosity of God
Sunday with Walter Brueggemann To Relish the Generosity of God [To] deny self is taken too often to mean you should have some self-hate, feel bad about yourself, ponder your failure and your guilt, and reject your worth. But that is surely not what Jesus is talking about. Rather, he is talking about coming toContinue reading “Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: To Relish the Generosity of God”
“Getting the Great Big Kick”
“This isn’t how most people think they’re going to finish out their work lives,” said Richard Johnson, an Urban Institute economist and veteran scholar of the older labor force who worked on the analysis. “For the majority of older Americans, working after 50 is considerably riskier and more turbulent than we previously thought.” • quotedContinue reading ““Getting the Great Big Kick””
David Bentley Hart on Capitalism
David Bentley Hart on Capitalism Whatever else capitalism may be, it is first and foremost a system for producing as much private wealth as possible by squandering as much as possible of humanity’s common inheritance of the goods of creation. But Christ condemned not only an unhealthy preoccupation with riches, but the getting and keepingContinue reading “David Bentley Hart on Capitalism”
Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: The holiness of the baptized community
Sunday with Walter Brueggemann The holiness of the baptized community The holiness of the church does not consist in true doctrine that everyone accepts. It does not consist in true morality that everyone embraces. We know of course that the church has often specialized in doctrine and morality. But the truth is that the holinessContinue reading “Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: The holiness of the baptized community”
The Internet Monk Archives 