A Runaway Slave: Note from Solitary Confinement – Epistle of Neaners to Chris Hoke
Friends,This week I will keep my commentary short, because Neaners' words are longer. What he is doing in this letter is a beautiful example of why I first went to Washington seven years ago after college: to begin reading the Bible through new eyes....
Experiencing (or not) divine encounters in Paris’ streets and prisons – Bob Ekblad
It’s been nearly three months now since I’ve been in direct contact with people incarcerated in a jail or prison-- the longest period in over 17 years. While life and ministry here in Paris is rich, I miss my routine of Thursday and Sunday Bible studies...
Rowan Williams’ ‘A Silent Action: Engagements with Thomas Merton’ – Review by Ron Dart
November 18 2011 Dear Ron,A quick word of thanks for your wonderfully generous and stirring review. I’m specifically glad that you flagged up the ecumenical character of the book as it emerged. Thanks so much.Yours EverRowan WilliamsArchbishop of Canterbury...
Blood Relations — posted by The Caffeinated Mystic (Deb)
Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,45...
Sacrament of Tears: Note from Solitary Confinement — by Neaners
This week's dispatch is a small fragment of a letter from Neaners, who is incarcerated in state prison. It shows a side few lifelong gang members will expose: weakness. I once heard that the monastic Desert Fathers considered tears to be one of the most potent...
Open Letter to PM Harper – Omnibus Bill C-10 by Steve Bell
Dear Mr. Harper, I am deeply concerned about Omnibus Bill C-10. It is my wife’s research (as a social-work student at Booth University College in Winnipeg) that has refocused my attention to the bill. The more I followed her work, the more...
Occupy Wall Street/Vancouver and Thomas More/Erasmus by Ron Dart
The Occupy Wall Street/Vancouver (and other cities) has garnered much media attention the last few weeks. The main concerns of the ‘Occupy’ movement have a great deal of legitimacy to them, and emerge from obvious injustices and imbalances of wealth and power. Are...
Occupy Vancouver – by Rod Janz
A friend of mine, Jeff Imbach, was recently interviewed at the Occupy Vancouver protest. I have to admit, I am still trying to get my head around the purpose and desired outcome of this protest. Maybe I need to go down and check it out for myself like...
Constitutional Democracies and Burst Wineskins – Brian Zahnd
The conservative evangelical political position in America is basically this: We have our Constitution -- created by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson.It is a good thing; almost inspired. It has served us well and helped make us great.We believe...
A Dream, The Samaritan Woman, and The Voice of God – by Eric Janzen
Recently, this began to coalesce in my mind as I prepared to preach at my church. I was reading through the story of Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well in John 4. As I was reading, an aspect of the story bubbled forth and it was something I hadn’t noticed before. Jesus does a masterful job of drawing the woman into a dialogue about living water, a water that will do away with thirst and become a spring ‘welling up to eternal life.’ The woman finally asks him for this water and Jesus makes a left turn, so to speak.