I listened to a film critic’s debate about whether current cinema has become too easy for us to watch. Films like The Help or the Shawshank Redemption were criticized as being too sentimental, too satisfying to watch--providing no deep insight into humanity, moving us nowhere. A few of the critics lamented how movie viewers need … Continue reading Samosas and Pi
Tag: Discipleship
Far and Wide
In seminary at Yale Divinity School I was awed to find myself in a vast landscape--that of the Christian witness spoken through the centuries. My perspective, having grown up in the Southern California United Church of Christ, was limited by comparison. I realized I had only seen faith from one small corner of scholarship in … Continue reading Far and Wide
Faith of Jesus
One of the seasons of the Way--the earliest name given to Christianity--is Lent. The season’s beginning is marked with a worship service known as Ash Wednesday. As the name suggests, ashes are central to the imagery and the ritual where the sign of the cross, put on the forehead with ashes, is a sign of … Continue reading Faith of Jesus
If
My daughter’s school assigned her fifth grade class to create a poetry notebook, to contain both poems she wrote and those she found and enjoyed. To further this I read a poetry anthology from my childhood with her, and we came upon Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “If—.“ On revisiting this poem for the first time in … Continue reading If
Life-giving Transformation
Before Jesus begins his ministry, people from all over Judea go out to the wilderness to John the Baptist. There they hear John’s message to “repent,” to turn toward a new direction, and receive a baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 3: 1- 6, Mark 1: 2 -6, Luke 3: 1-6, John 1: 19-23). … Continue reading Life-giving Transformation
The One Voice that Matters
We Christians are a strange lot. In my mail the other day, on top of the advertisements was one of an unhappy man and an unhappy woman sleeping in the same bed but turned away from one another. A friend of my husband's, shown this flyer, thought it was probably advertising a linen sale. Closer … Continue reading The One Voice that Matters
Pleasing to God
When the firm ground shifts, praise God. As I started to prepare for my next preaching assignment (North Long Beach Christian Church, January 22, 10:45), I turned to this week's lectionary texts--a set of readings used by many Christian churches across denominations. They struck me with full force. "If riches increase, do not set your … Continue reading Pleasing to God
