I love this because it is a poem; our God is a poet. We humans are poets because God is a poet. A poem, in any language, contains not just information but also less precise but equally important emotion and beauty. It creates relationships between facts, content, feelings, and the whole. The meaning of individual …
Amen, Lord have mercy…
I have been intermittently using “Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings from the Northumbria Community” in my practice of daily devotions. It works rather like the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, in that it is organized into sections such as Opening Prayers, Readings, and Meditations which are further organized by date or by day of …
Ecclesiastes Lesson 1
Ecclesiastes Lesson 1: Wisdom and the Wisdom Literature Introduction: Why study this book? • Time…the Destroyer? • Mid-century angst? (“A feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general.” From German “fear”) • Life doesn’t seem to make sense…am I missing something? …
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus
I just finished reading this remarkable book by Nabeel Qureshi, a first-generation Pakistani raised as a devout Muslim who converted to Christianity in his early twenties after years of seeking to know Allah deeply. It is an incredibly sympathetic book, showing deep and heartfelt respect and love for his Muslim people as well as for …
On the Recent Catholic Scandal
Almost seventeen years ago I stood with a colleague in the waiting room of our ER and watched live TV as the second jetliner crashed into the World Trade Center, making it immediately clear that this was no accident but an act of terrorism, almost certainly religious. I turned to my Mennonite friend and observed, …
Forgiveness and Fear
"With the Lord there is forgiveness, therefore He may be feared." Ps. 130 When I read this line in a recent worship service, it struck me as quite odd. Why would God's being a forgiving god cause us to fear him? Would it not be the opposite, that we should fear him less because He …
Little Gidding 