I have never plugged another blog so vehemently as I am now plugging this one.
My wife and I were up until 1:30 in morning, rolling in laughter at this blog because IT’S ALL TRUE!!!
The author is not forthcoming with personal identity details, but that’s the blogger’s prerogative. The experiences chronicled and parodied here are almost universal among mainline clergy. I’m actually a little scared that if my parishioners found this blog, they would be able to read my mind.
Please check this out, especially if you happen to be the clergy type.
I’m told that today is “Quote the Prophet Muhammad Day”, so I’m reblogging my own post from this past spring. Offered in hopes of greater understanding in the future.
Last Sunday, I preached against Islamophobia from the pulpit of Boonville Presbyterian Church. As a supportive addendum to that message, I offer this post in hopes of fostering greater goodwill and understanding between Christians and Muslims.
The purpose of this post is to lead readers from all religions toward more peaceful coexistence. If that’s not something you want, then don’t read or comment on this article. All offensive comments will be deleted. I’m telling you now so that you don’t take it personally when it happens.
The following verses from the Qur’an and the English translation of the Achtiname of Muhammad were found in an article by Dr. Zakir Naik in the online magazine Islamic Voice. You can visit their website at: www.islamicvoice.com
Passages from the Qur’an on violence and forced conversions:
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error” [Al-Qur’an 2:256]
Reading Teilhard de Chardin today, I found the following passage. This is all the response I wish to give to Mitt Romney’s remarks about “the 47%”:
Fundamentally, in spite of the apparent enthusiasm with which large sections of humankind go along with the political and social currents of the day, the mass of humankind remains dissatisfied. It is impossible to find, either on the right or the left, a truly progressive mind which does not confess to at least a partial disillusionment with all existing movements.
A person joins one party or another, because if one wishes to act one must make a choice. But, having taken a stand, everyone feels to some extent hampered, thwarted, even revolted. Everyone wants something larger, finer, better for humankind. Scattered throughout the apparently hostile masses which are fighting each other, there are elements everywhere which are only waiting for a shock in order to re-orient themselves and unite.
All that is needed is that the ray of light should fall upon these people as upon a cloud of particles, that an appeal should be sounded which responds to their internal needs, and across all denominations, across the conventional barriers which still exist, we shall see the living atoms of the universe seek each other out, find each other and organize themselves.
Adapted from Building the Earth by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, written in 1937, published posthumously in 1965. These words are mostly his, I have only altered them to make use of gender-inclusive pronouns.
Here is a link to a video by Jason Silva that’s sure to blow your mind on a Monday morning. It’s only about 3 minutes long and worth every second.
From a Stanford study, it has been found that exposure to ‘awe’ at regular intervals leads to an increase in empathy, compassion, increased feelings of altruism and general well being.
I found it on Facebook via Rev. Dr. Margaret Aymer Oget.
Waking up early on a Monday to do lecture prep for my Ethics course.
I found this image on Facebook. For me, it’s not only cute, it’s also a little nostalgic. My pastor in Vancouver, Rev. Dr. Sylvia Cleland at West Point Grey Presbyterian Church, used to have this photo up on her office door.
That was the last church I attended where I was not either the pastor or the pastor’s spouse.
I often call it “Vancouver’s Best Kept Secret” for several reasons:
It’s the only Presbyterian church I knew of where Koreans and Anglos worshiped together (they have separate presbyteries and usually keep apart).
It’s the only church I knew of where students from Regent College and Vancouver School of Theology would worship and serve their internships together. In spite of the fact that they are only two blocks away from each other, these two seminaries usually keep separate. The Regent folks generally assume that the VST folks are godless heretics while the VST folks assume that the Regent folks are fundamentalist fanatics. They’re both wrong.
The church’s small size made it possible for ministerial interns to actually do real ministry, like preaching, pastoral care, and education. At the bigger, more popular churches in town, student interns would end up answering phones and making coffee. We actually got to find out what being a pastor was really like.
So, if you’re thinking of going to seminary in Vancouver, BC (at Regent College or Vancouver School of Theology), check out West Point Grey Presbyterian Church at the corner of 11th & Trimble. Thank me later.
Time magazine named author and pastor Brian McLaren one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America.
McLaren has written more than 20 books, and he is a principal figure in the Emerging Church, a Christian movement that rejects the organized and institutional church in favor of a more modern, accepting community.
McLaren’s new book is called Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Mohammed Cross the Road?: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World.
Vida Dutton Scudder. Image is in the public domain.
Vida Dutton Scudder (1861-1954) was a professor at Wellesly College, a member of the Socialist party, and a prominent activist in the Episcopal Church. She was involved in the Social Gospel movement, the campaign for labor rights, the equality of women, and (eventually) pacifism. She helped to organize the Women’s Trade Union League, the Episcopal Church Socialist League, and joined the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross. Vida and her partner, Florence Converse, lived together for 35 years, from 1919 until Vida’s death in 1954. She is celebrated in the Episcopal Church’s calendar of saints: her feast day is on October 10.
Earlier today, as I was reading Diana Butler Bass’s book A People’s History of Christianity, I came across an amazing prediction of Scudder’s that Butler Bass took from Scudder’s 1912 book Socialism and Character. In this passage, Scudder prophesies the advent of mainline church decline, which eventually started to happen in the latter half of the 20th century. I was amazed at how closely Scudder’s views resemble my own, except that she was writing a full century before I started thinking about it. Listen to what Scudder has to say:
One certitude is forced on us : it is unlikely that Christianity will retain so nominally exclusive a sway as it has hitherto done in western Europe. In all probability, the day of its conventional social control is passing and will soon be forgotten. The time will come when the Christian faith will have to fight for right of way among crowding antagonists as vigorously as in the times of Athanasius and Augustine.
And in thoughts like these all genuine Christians must rejoice. Without the call to high adventure, the faith has never flourished.
Many of us are horrified by the awful news and images of Chris Stevens, the US Ambassador to Libya, being assassinated and dragged through the streets. As happens so often in this world, rage begets rage begets rage…
It was Mahatma Gandhi who said: “An eye for an eye and eventually the whole world goes blind.”
However, there is always more to the human story. I know that the Sacred Spirit still lives in our hearts, working miracles of reconciliation. I can hear the joyful laughter through Her tears when I see pictures like the ones I found on Facebook. If you are angry about what has happened, meditate on these images and let the peace of God reign in your heart:
As one who has long been interested in all things monastic, this article at Duke Divinity School’s Faith and Leadership blog really tickled my fancy. Enjoy!
Hopping Hadrian's Wall 
