On the bedroom wall, I have a framed calligraphic rendering of my favorite message from the prophet Micah: “This is what the Lord asks of you, only this: to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God.” It is challenging to manifest that in this angry world. I need to strive […]
Most of us can recall bits of poetry we once read as kids in English class, even though we may not remember the name of the poem or the context of the quote. And so it is with poems about hope. Alexander Pope, for example, in his “Essay on Man (1732): “Hope springs eternal in […]
There can be many kinds of resurrection in our lives at any time. Your spirit, for instance. Is it beaten down by 15 months of COVID-related difficulties and challenges? Other issues? Mine was. I spent several months last summer in a depression brought on by the pandemic, my retirement from the most rewarding ministry of […]
The Easter bunny has gone, the colorful Easter eggs eaten, the left-over ham finished, but Easter isn’t over. In fact, it’s never over. As the memory of that special day continues to fill our hearts with joy, let us honor his sacrifice and resurrection by doing what he commanded us to do in John’s gospel, […]
Got Hope? Tell us why? Visit us on our website or Facebook for details. The goal of Christian practice (and Buddhist practice) is authentic personal transformation: what Thomas Merton calls the recovery of the lost or true self. It is process, not destination. It is the journey toward God. It is ongoing. It is frustratingly […]
Got Hope? Tell us why? Visit us on our website or Facebook for details. The “new creation” that we become in baptism is not a static form of salvation. It is a manifestation of God’s grace – a living, evolving thing – that should be reflected in our lives as our thank you to God […]
Got Hope? Tell us why? Visit us on our website or Facebook for details. How often have we heard “God helps those who help themselves?” Well, I recently had a lesson in that for these challenging days of pandemic, political and social schism, and the 24/7 drama of television and social media. For a while, […]
How blessed we are that God doesn’t call just the most saint-like among us. “Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.” Matthew was a hated tax collector stationed on the main road, collecting duties on goods carried by […]
When I was a kid, I was confused by the term “Holy Ghost,” which was used back then. Since my idea of ghosts was informed by the movies I saw at the Rialto Theater on Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue, I just couldn’t get it. But some years later, churches moved to a more accurate translation: Holy […]
Christianity’s most famous directive for right living is found in Luke 6:31 – “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Matthew 7:12 adds a phrase: “ So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” In everything! There’s no carving out exceptions, darn it!. We can […]
