If there is one thing that tragic events like the assassination of Charlie Kirk or the attempted assassination of President Trump over a year ago impress upon me, it is the need for apocalyptic and discerning eyes. These events come with great emotion and energy, so much so that they can serve to galvanize movements … Continue reading Apocalyptic Eyes for Trying Times
Tag: christianity
I am a Failure
Recently, I have been contemplating failure and its spiritual dimensions. In large part, this is because failure’s counterpart, success, is such a strange thing to pin down. I think Daniel Berrigan was onto something when he referred to success as being a weasel word and horribly American. But this recent contemplation of mine is also … Continue reading I am a Failure
Trying to Live without Lies
Over the past four years, I have paid very close attention to all the stories surrounding the New York Jets. Part of this is because I spend a good amount of time travelling to work in the car, but also because I am a hopeless Jets fan, consistently drawn into the various story lines from … Continue reading Trying to Live without Lies
The Righteous Gemstones and Moses and the Prophets
A few months ago, my wife started watching The Righteous Gemstones, which means that I was kind of watching it, too, while reading on the couch. For those who are not familiar with the show, it’s a comedy that follows a wealthy televangelist/megachurch family that employs rather un-Christian behavior to perpetuate their ministry empire. Quite … Continue reading The Righteous Gemstones and Moses and the Prophets
Epigenetic Disagreeablness and Jesus
Over a weekend during my junior year of college, I decided to read all three Synoptic Gospels. I must confess that until this weekend, I had never read these Gospels in their entirety. Growing up Lutheran and attending church every Sunday, I was familiar with many parts of the Gospels. However, I had never actually … Continue reading Epigenetic Disagreeablness and Jesus
When I grow up I want to be a bully!
One of the more entertaining parts about working maintenance for Concordia-New York during the summers was that you never knew what you might come across on any given day. Given that the campus was quite old, with a myriad of old buildings as well as properties off the main campus, you could find yourself on … Continue reading When I grow up I want to be a bully!
“I’m sorry, who?”
Some years ago, I received a phone call from a funeral home director asking me if I could do a funeral for a family that claimed to be members of the church I served. When he shared the name of the deceased, I did not recognize it, so I respectfully told him so. Still, the … Continue reading “I’m sorry, who?”
“What is impossible with human beings, is possible with God…” or “trying to put a square peg in a round hole.”
These are familiar words of Jesus, said in response to his disciples’ shock at both the rejection of the wealthy man and his words about it being easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy person to enter the kingdom. Given the context, the force of the … Continue reading “What is impossible with human beings, is possible with God…” or “trying to put a square peg in a round hole.”
A Foolish Way 