Jesus in Eden

Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on September, 7 2023

The Bible is a mirror.  In it, we see the structure of our psyches.  We see the scaffolding of our spirituality.  What makes the Bible holy is not that it is the “word of God”, but rather that so many of its passages offer such breathtakingly vivid reflections of the journeys of our souls.

East Illuminates West

Column by Support - Progressing Spirit on June, 8 2023

The East-West spiritual encounter has been profoundly formative for progressive Christianity.  Experiencing the meditative practices of the East has inspired us to explore the previously neglected contemplative tradition of our faith. 

Flipping the “He Gets Us” Script

Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on February, 23 2023

The people behind HeGetsUs don’t get him.  But that doesn’t prevent us from using their campaign to help folks get who Jesus really was – and making his compassionate personality the welcoming face of our progressive faith communities. 

When Progressive Christianity Runs Wet

Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on July, 21 2022

Now, more than ever, is the time to express our faith forthrightly, publicly, and invitationally.

Christianity: The Plain English Version

Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on December, 2 2021

Like progressive Christians today, Simone Weil knew God as love.  Not just as warm, fuzzy, romantic, or familial love.  Rather as agape love, which embraces all beings and things – and all experiences, including suffering.  Communion with the divine was, for her, manifested in attention

Otherdoxy: A Questionable of Faith

Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on April, 1 2021

There are many questions that mainstream science can’t answer, at least at the moment.  Ethical and moral questions, such as: who should get the Covid vaccine first?  And how can such a prioritization be made understandable and acceptable to the public?  Science provides data upon which such judgments can be made, but ultimately we can’t trust science itself to sort them out. 

Just Looking at Christmas

Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on December, 24 2020

Such is the looking at the figures in the crèche scene at the birth of Jesus. The crèche is a window into the eternal quality of the now, an icon of the divine point of view. It is the slack-jawed, timeless, aimless, free, worshipful Awe that is Love that is God.