In the Northern hemisphere, we are in the season of Fall and harvest. It is also the time when a number of cultures and traditions encourage communion with our benevolent ancestors, saints, and spiritual teachers.
What such people meant by this is that they feared that the era of privilege and power for straight, white, wealthy, capitalist men might soon pass unless it becomes vigorously defended.
Living with Holy Mystery is the spiritual schooling of the soul. The method of the schooling is the spiritual practices that teach us how to become embodiments of the Source: meditation; spiritual exploration; breath, body, and movement; and liturgy.
You’ve heard it said again and again- “We’re living in unprecedented times”. There’s extreme polarization, increased bigotry, emboldened racists, and virtual mobs seeking to cancel those who don’t align perfectly with the new orthodoxies of whichever side of the aisle you identify with
Earlier this summer, I was called out as a heretic and accused of “sitting on Satan’s lap” courtesy of the Institute for Religion and Democracy (the fundamentalist think tank behind the schisms of many of our mainline denominations).
I very much appreciated Brian McLaren’s recent column, Thanks Presiding Bishop Curry, and his thoughtful exploration of the bishop’s advice to find a voice that is non-partisan, and why this is easier said than done.
What might a Creed that represented Jesus’ teachings more, and Constantine’s less, look like?
We are becoming aware of what we are: Boundless love is the Source of life and the longing of the soul. As we live from the Source, we become more curious about life, which means we question, ceaselessly.
I write this essay in the wake of a slate of recent rulings by the US Supreme Court that many progressive Christians, and progressive persons in general, find most troubling.
Recently, I was in consultation with a colleague who is First Nation Cree. Throughout the conversation, there was a steady stream of confidence, curiosity, and hope. Really smiling at one point, my colleague said, “I’m an eternal optimist who comes from a history of despair.”