Category: Living Our Faith

I was grumpy in Bible study this week. I didn’t know why. Something was nagging at me about the lectionary gospel reading (I’m quoting a bit longer here than the lectionary text because I think the whole story is important): Luke 4:16-30 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went… Continue reading Make Them Run You to the Cliffs

As we enter a new year, I don’t think I’m alone as I obsessively scrutinize the widening gulf between the views of the right wing in the U.S. and the teachings of Jesus. On the one hand, I’m pretty sure it will provide a lot of blog fodder for me this year and beyond. On… Continue reading Responding with Love and Compassion

Imagine this: you are born into the Roman Empire in the year zero. Oppression is everywhere. You smell it in the marketplace. You see it on the tired expressions of the friends around you. You hear it in the clamor of armor on the soldiers marching through your streets. Every day, the threat of violence… Continue reading The Humble Birth of God

So many of my favorite things about Christmas come from church tradition and not strictly speaking from the Bible. I think that should tell us something about our wider faith. Your Christian faith didn’t stop with the canonization of the Bible, it continued to evolve over centuries of thought, debate and tradition and it should… Continue reading A Very Unbiblical Christmas

”I just hugged the man who murdered my son.” — Mary Johnson In 1993, Mary Johnson’s 16-year-old son, Larami, was shot and killed by Oshea Israel during a robbery. The tragedy devastated Mary and left her grappling with immense grief and anger. Years later, after Oshea had served time in prison, Mary made the courageous… Continue reading Playing God Instead of Imitating God

Who needs this reminder? Probably everybody. Almost everyone I know is walking around nervous, fearful, wringing their hands, checking the polls every five minutes, and just generally concerned about the upcoming election. My personal opinion is that one side of the country actually represents an existential threat to democracy. If you read my blog, it… Continue reading Important Election Reminder: God’s Got This

Proverbs 19:21 The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established.” Sometimes I look at the options in my life and they seem like a dot-to-dot puzzle with no numbers to guide me. Just an endless sea of dots, a swarm of options and no… Continue reading Connecting the Dots

The story of David and Goliath is one of the most popular stories in the Bible. I can remember being very heartened by it as a young child. I went to a religious school for most of my pre-college experiences. Even though I am 6’ 2” today, I was a year or more younger than… Continue reading Are We David or Goliath?

A question I’ve received a few times is about how I chose the name of this blog. The basic answer is that humility is one of my top personal values. Almost 20 years ago I sat in a Tokyo Joe’s eating lunch while waiting for my son to get out of a summer program and… Continue reading What is Humility?