Category: theology
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“…refusing to do evil to their friends.”
In particular you will be called to be present to your people when their lives are in crisis. Do not be surprised, however, because you have been present at such times those to whom you have been present will find it difficult to love you. Because you are a priest you will be welcomed by…
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A Faith Not Worth Fighting For
In recent days we’ve learned about President Obama’s role in deciding which terrorist suspects are selected for the “kill list.” Inclusion on this list all but guarantees the subject will be the target of a supposedly secret and increasingly common drone strike. While the story seems dramatic from every angle, from the president’s intimate involvement…
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Trayvon Martin, Patience and Self Reflection
My friend Dr. Vincent Bacote, a theology professor at Wheaton College, offers helpful perspective on Tayvon Martin’s tragic death. While many changes have occurred in the 150 years since the Civil War began, race consciousness remains in our social and cultural DNA like a stubborn mutation, rendering it difficult for us to truly and consistently…
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Are You Waiting for “The One”?
Last summer I officiated six different weddings for six very different couples and, if I’d known of it at the time, Are You Waiting for “The One”? is a book I would have recommended to each of them. Unlike so many Christian books about marriage, Margaret and Dwight Peterson have written an immensely down to…
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Confession, Huckleberry Finn, and Beloved Community
During my sermon from Nehemiah 1 on Sunday I paused and asked for reflection from the congregation. I’d pointed out that, as part of his prayer, Nehemiah confessed his own complicity in the fate that had befallen his people. In verse 6 he says, “I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my ancestral…
David W. Swanson 