Dear All, Another factor in preserving the unity of the Church is a constant conversation that goes on amongst all the members. I know that that sounds untrue.
I did a lot of heavy lifting last week about the foundation of the Church’s unity in the unity of the Trinity. Today, I want to talk about the multiplicity/pluralism in the Trinity – the three-ness -- as the foundation of a remarkable diversity in the Church.
I took the high road to assert that love is the root of the Church’s permanence in history. By that I did not mean eroticism or mushy sentimentalism or fuzzy ‘empathy’.
Dear All, If I led you to think that I was done dealing with ‘reductions’, I must apologize. There is one that is typically American and a really ‘hot potato’ in an election year, but it must be addressed: the reduction of every public issue to a political issue.
Dear All, As you will have gathered, the reductionist style of thinking cannot help being a rabbit hole leading to absurdity. The world is altogether too complex and too fluid for a ‘one size fits all’ approach. So, you must be ready to understand that I have no intention of proposing a reductionist approach; so this will not be simple.
Dear All, If I led you to think that I was done dealing with ‘reductions’, I must apologize. There is one that is typically American and a really ‘hot potato’ in an election year, but it must be addressed: the reduction of every public issue to a political issue.
Dear All, As if fiscal reductionism and biological reductionism were altogether too confining, there has arisen in recent years a new reduction of humanity to pure will.
Dear All, In case you missed it last week, I am pretty strongly opposed to cultural and/or scientific movements to reduce human beings to some lesser common denominator.
Dear All, Black lives matter! Of course! But ‘how much’? And why is the reminder so urgent? I am absolutely certain that somewhere there is an economist who can tell you down to the last farthing just how much it costs to birth, feed, clothe, house, educate a kid of color in Manchester, New York, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, East Overshoe.
Dear All, Latin is a wonderful language; it can express a universe of truth or sentiment in fewer words than any other language. Today’s lesson, then, focuses on a two-word expression: Vae victis! Woe to the vanquished!
Dear All, It is now more than a decade since I read a really interesting essay by a really famous Protestant theologian (whose name I will recall in about 45 minutes) about the uniqueness of the USofA and of American religion in general.
Dear All, I recall a particular day in another country when I was the only English-speaking person in a small space full of excited locals. They were pretty much as white as I, but I could not relate to their excitement or take part in it. It was very unsettling to be an outsider
Dear All, Because there is no reason to fear death, there is no risk too large, no threat too imminent and no forgiveness to unthinkable. Charity and courage, then, are the hallmarks of our lives. And all of this because of the dying of the Son of God upon the cross!
Dear All, The ‘image of God’ in humanity is humanity’s destination for eternal life. That destination was not changed by Eve and Adam’s decision to trust the snake rather than God, but it became complicated by humanity’s new-found freedom to second guess the Creator
Dear All, Christian anthropology (a faith-based understanding of human nature) always begins with the fact that humans are creatures created in the image and likeness of God. We feel pretty secure in our understanding of ‘creature-liness’;
Dear All, Someone famous once wrote about the skull beneath the skin. I suppose that that is just a more sober version of Beauty is only skin deep. And both of those are but vernacular echoes of the Church’s reminder that you are dust and will return to dust.
Dear All, Over the last few days I have spent (wasted?) uncountable hours talking about masks! When it comes to pieces of fabric, only the confederate flag draws stronger reactions than does the simple mask!
Dear All, As I ‘write’ this it is both Juneteenth – the anniversary of the publication of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas, and, so, the final act in the abolition of slavery in the territory of the USofA – and the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This conjunction of observances is purely coincidental; or maybe, this year, it is full of meaning ….
Dear All, I said that I wanted to uncover and propose a fifth way in which Christ is present in the Eucharist – over and above in the assembled Body, the priest as representative of the Head, the word proclaimed which leads to the consecration of the Host.