Theolog

Blogging toward Sunday: Warning signs and grounds for hope

2009-11-10T07:13:00.007-06:00

24th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28)Daniel 12:1-3; Psalm 16; Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25; Mark 13:1-8by A. Katherine GriebIn the state where I live sometimes it's hard to tell which is scarier, Halloween or election day—a useful reminder that Christians are constantly besieged both by supernatural powers and by the results of our own sinfulness, whether individual or communal. Recent

The day the wall fell

2009-11-09T13:30:00.005-06:00

by Steve ThorngateI’m pretty excited about the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street’s first episode, but it’s definitely not the most significant thing to commemorate this week. That would be the fall of the Berlin Wall, 20 years ago today.The New York Times has a terrific interactive feature, with then-and-now photographs of Berlin for comparison. And here’s some great annotated footage from 20

The controversial peace thing

2009-11-05T10:39:00.000-06:00

by Tom JohnsonI was teaching an adult class at an area evangelical church when we fell into a discussion (diversion, rabbit trail) about how Paul was asking the Thessalonians to live counter-culturally. (See especially 1 Thes. 4:1-12.) I said that we Christians in America today may not feel this contradiction on a daily basis the way someone living in Thessalonika would.Immediately one of the

On the shelf: The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History by Ian J. Bickerton

2009-11-04T10:51:00.000-06:00

by Richard A. KauffmanA year ago I was on a tour of Palestinian villages that had been overrun by Jewish militias in the 1948 war. In one village our tour guide had been a 26-year-old father of one when the invading forces bombed his village. He escaped with his family and parents and took refuge in Nazareth.The village was reduced to rubble, although the invaders tried to preserve the houses of

Sojourners on sex

2009-11-03T07:25:00.001-06:00

by Bromleigh McCleneghanSojourners promised me that if I renewed my subscription, they'd send an issue with the headline “6 Rules* for Shameless Sex.” What can I say? Sex sells.Keith Graber Miller’s article (free registration required) tries to reclaim the power and joy of human sexuality while avoiding a “naiveté or excessive optimism about our sexual selves” that he sees in the reclamation of

Blogging toward Sunday: Two widows, true to type

2009-11-02T07:22:00.001-06:00

23rd Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 27)1 Kings 17:8-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44by A. Katherine GriebFor most of canonical history, Mark's Gospel has been considered an ugly duckling and its author a clumsy yokel. It can hardly be a coincidence that this Gospel was recognized as a swan and its author newly discovered as a literary genius after the development of sophisticated

Ordinary and extraordinary

2009-10-30T14:50:00.001-05:00

by Celeste Kennel-ShankAs far as I know, mine was the first believers baptism at the church in which I was raised. At our ELCA-affiliated, ecumenical congregation, most members had been baptized as infants. But, being of Mennonite heritage, my parents waited and let me decide for myself to be baptized. It was no more extraordinary than any other baptism...yet it was a day few of my 16th-century

On the shelf: Psalms by John Hermanson

2009-10-29T09:00:00.003-05:00

by Amy FrykholmThe first time I listened to this CD I blushed. I had the oddly uncomfortable sensation of listening in on another person’s private conversation with God. Yet the words couldn’t have been more familiar to me. These are songs written 3,000 years ago in a place a long way from here. I have been hearing them all my life in many contexts.This collection of psalms with music written and

Christians and Muslims in conversation

2009-10-27T07:10:00.000-05:00

by Leo D. LefebureThis summer, Georgetown University and Hartford Seminary cosponsored the fifth Institute on Christian-Muslim Relations at Georgetown. For some, the Georgetown gathering was an introduction to Muslim-Christian history and relations. Others, such as Norm Nelson of Compassion Radio and Camp Brotherhood trustee Mohammed Fani, have been involved in interreligious efforts for some

Blogging toward Sunday: Saints with and without halos

2009-10-26T06:50:00.000-05:00

All Saints DayIsaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44by Phyllis KerstenIt is impossible, I believe, to have another All Saints Day come and go without recalling and giving thanks for those saints without halos—family members, mentors and friends—who were gifts of God to us and who now worship before the throne. Perhaps the first thing to do on All Saints Day is to remember them and give

Roundup on the Vatican and Anglican "personal ordinariates"

2009-10-23T15:48:00.007-05:00

by Steve ThorngateTuesday, the Catholic Church announced a new canonical structure via which disaffected conservative Anglican priests, laypeople and entire groups can enter full communion with the Catholic Church. Below are some highlights of the week’s extensive coverage and commentary.Ruth Gledhill posts video of the joint press conference by Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury and head

American Catholic sisters' "quality of life"

2009-10-22T09:17:00.000-05:00

by Amy Frykholm The American Catholic Church has had some difficult years. With thousands of accusations of sexual abuse made over the past two decades and a widespread and well-documented cover-up of the problem, the Church has suffered psychologically, financially, culturally and socially. It has accumulated a great deal of legal debt while the number of parishes without priests is at an all

On the shelf: Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations by Robert Schnase

2009-10-21T15:40:00.005-05:00

by Debra BendisDuring a break at a worship conference, I complimented the host church’s pastor on the fine job his church members had done in welcoming and orienting participants. For some 80 conference participants, there were 10 to 15 congregational volunteers, many of them in red t-shirts, manning clearly identified stations and eager to direct guests to refreshments, coat racks and worship

Gifts and circumstances

2009-10-20T11:26:00.000-05:00

by Meg E. CoxRecently I took two strings of beads from a drawer and put them on. As I kissed my daughter goodbye on my way out the door, I told her that the newer string of beads was a gift from a Bhutanese neighbor whose family had just arrived in Chicago from a refugee camp in Nepal. "It's time I use my gift," I said.I walked down the front steps smiling, surprised and pleased at the timeliness

Blogging toward Sunday: Flaws and calls and healing

2009-10-19T07:24:00.002-05:00

21st Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 25)Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 10:46-52by Phyllis KerstenA friend heard I was writing about blind Bartimaeus and asked me a question: “Where do call and healing meet? How do they intersect?” Since I didn’t really know the answer, I preferred to think of her question as rhetorical.It’s a good question, and I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately.

Remembering doctors on St. Luke's Day

2009-10-16T11:57:00.000-05:00

by Richard A. KauffmanI’m a fan of David Letterman, so I was sorry to hear him confess that he’d had sex with some of his subordinates. But his inexcusable behavior doesn’t undermine for me another part of his legacy: the night when he had as his guests the doctors and nurses who worked with him when he had open-heart surgery. The normally jocular Letterman got choked up when he gave them credit

Abusing the noble prize

2009-10-15T09:48:00.004-05:00

by Debra BendisRichard Cohen spins an entire column from one comment by his “love of lo these many years,” who insists that instead of citing President Barack Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize committee got it wrong—it should have awarded the Nobel to the people who elected him. Christine Pelosi nobly offers Obama’s Nobel to America’s military families—especially lesbian, gay, bisexual and

Learning from Moses

2009-10-14T11:52:00.000-05:00

by Richard A. KauffmanMoses has been an important figure for Americans since the time of the Pilgrims. Bruce Feiler thinks Moses can serve as a model in these times for President Obama.According to Feiler, Obama must offer people "milk and honey"—that is, offer a story of hope, not just details about policy. He has to work at building a society that nurtures everyone, even the strangers (

All politics is local

2009-10-13T11:30:00.000-05:00

by David HeimThe 2010 edition of The Almanac of American Politics (1,864 pp.) just came out—an every-other-year cause for joy among political junkies and all who love history and the regional nuances of politics. Published by National Journal, the volume delivers a state-by-state cascade of data on electoral results, voting records and committee assignments. It’s the place to look when an obscure

Blogging toward Sunday: A scandalous life

2009-10-12T09:55:00.000-05:00

20th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 24)Job 38:1-7; Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10:35-45by Paul J. WadellAmericans love a good scandal. We’re mesmerized by the salacious details of celebrities’ lives, by politicians trapped in webs of greed and infidelity and by clergy gone astray. Maybe we’re drawn to the titillating lapses and scurrilous misdeeds of the powerful because we delight in seeing the mighty

Joyful loitering

2009-10-09T07:26:00.000-05:00

by Beverly Roberts GaventaFor a number of years now, the Century has included a column on lectionary texts, Living by the Word. The title is a good one, conjuring up as it does the vital importance of the words of scripture and the Word to which they witness. I’d like to propose that this “living by the word (or Word)” begins with lingering, perhaps even with loitering.Lingering anywhere has

On knowing God—or not

2009-10-08T15:38:00.000-05:00

by Richard A. Kauffman Theologian Michael W. DeLashmutt encourages his students to think about knowledge of God as a form of human knowing distinct from sense perception (the awareness of being hungry) or objective knowledge. Knowing God, he writes in the Expository Times, is more analogous to knowing a piece of music, which involves participation in the music (subscription required):Like the

On the shelf: Everyday Justice by Julie Clawson

2009-10-08T09:50:00.000-05:00

by Bob Cornwall“Every decision we make is an ethical decision, which forces us to choose whether we will act out of love or end up denying the image of God in others.” This quotation sums up CCblogger Julie Clawson’s new book Everyday Justice. Whether it’s the coffee we drink, the chocolate or cheeseburger we eat or the clothes on our back, our everyday choices affect the lives of people living

Still blogging toward Sunday: Another take on Mark 10:17-31

2009-10-07T14:06:00.000-05:00

19th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 23)Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31by A. Katherine GriebToday, a bonus lectionary post—because preaching on Jesus and the rich man takes all the help you can get. —Ed.Today’s Gospel reading worries Christians seriously contemplating Jesus' rigorous discipleship teaching. Preachers do well to honor both the worry and the teaching. All three

God, if you're there

2009-10-06T12:30:00.001-05:00

by Richard A. KauffmanWhile working in Iraq, journalist and avowed atheist Spencer Case felt an impulse to pray on two separate occasions.One time is easily explainable, he claims, writing in the Humanist—it was when his camp was under attack by enemy mortars. The other occasion was when he slept under the stars in a desolate part of western Iraq and was struck by the contrast between the