Nail Scars and Bullet Wounds – Isaiah 1:15 – Bradley Jersak
Nail-scars & bullet wounds.
"And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood."
-Isaiah 1:15
20 million guns sold in 2020
18.5 million sold in 2021
An Emmaus Way / Christotelic response to Isaiah 1:15 might see God's own hands "spread forth" in the cruciform, bearing bullet wounds, pleading with us, "Will you hide your eyes yet again?"
Somehow, we must get beyond the repetitious platitudes of ineffectual "thoughts n prayers" or news-cycle brief faux-outrage to find someone somewhere in whose authentic grief we can sit and practice co-suffering love.
Does God Punish? by Fr. Michael Gillis (Holy Nativity Orthodox)
Thomas Hardy says of the main character in The Mayor of Casterbridge, Michael Henchard, that “misery taught him nothing more than the defiant endurance of it.” What does misery teach us? What can it teach us? Can it teach us more than just the fact that we must endure it?
Signs of God’s Kingdom Now by Bob Ekblad
Over 20 of Sugar Creek’s members were conscientious objectors in WWII– an unpopular outworking of following Jesus in choosing to love and pray for (rather than kill) national enemies. Like many peace churches, living out Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 is a high priority. Nathan, the pastor, had invited me to share on dimensions of discipleship less known & practiced by his congregation–the gifts of the Holy Spirit & healing prayer.
Aung San Suu Kyi Free — by Oddny Gumaer
On Saturday November 13th the Burmese junta released Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from her illegal house arrest. The junta has detained Suu Kyi for 15 of the last 21 years, and continuously since May 30, 2003. While thousands rejoiced in the streets of Rangoon and millions joined around the world, the military junta continued its offenses in the ethnic areas around the country. For the thousands who were forced to flee from their homes, the day was far from happy.
Nouvelle Theologie & Sacramental Ontology: A Return to Mystery by Hans Boersma — Book Review by Ron Dart
Hans Boersma has already rendered exquisite and probing yeoman’s duty with Violence, Hospitality and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition (2004). This groundbreaking tome made it abundantly clear that the historic and patristic church had five main ways of understanding the atonement, hence there is no need to be committed to one particular version of the atonement (particularly the penal-juridical theory). Hans’ turn to the breadth and depth of the Great Tradition signaled, for the alert, the larger project that he is engaged in — a return to the ancient sources as a site of insight and nourishment for the mind and imagination, soul and heart. The modern and postmodern project are thin and lack a decided depth, hence the much needed and delayed return to the life giving wells of the waiting past.
Refugee Crisis: Thousands Flee Burma
Over the past three days tens of thousands of people have fled from Burma Army clashes and forced conscription. More than ten thousand fled the border town of Myawaddy into Mae Sot, Thailand, alone. There have also been confirmed clashes–including the launching of heavy artillery–in other parts of Karen State, Burma which have resulted in more than 10,000 people fleeing for the Thai border with only their clothes on their backs.
Movie Review of ‘With God on our side” – by Frank Schaeffer
The State of Israel just announced a decision (New York Times, Tuesday Nov 7, 2010) to advance the approval of some 1,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem during a sensitive time in the peace negotiations with the Palestinians. What they didn’t mention is that several American Christian Zionist groups have been raising money to help build new illegal settlements on occupied land for years.
Martin Luther King Jr. re: Canada
MLK: Canada is not merely a neighbour to Negroes. Deep in our history of struggle for freedom Canada was the North Star.
Freedom is Constrained: Brief Thoughts on the Freedom Problem by Eric H. Janzen
In some ways human history can be summed up in the search for freedom. Not only to be free, but more profoundly, what it means to be free. The path goes something like this: if we can figure out how to be free we will as a result be happy, satisfied, and...
Song of a Jailhouse Chaplain — a Social-Prophetic Sampling of Chris Hoke
For the last five years, Chris Hoke has gone with Bob Ekblad to the Skagit County Jail in northwest WA where they read the Bible and pray with men of all races and criminal levels.
American Exceptionalism by Brian Zahnd
American Exceptionalism: The theory that the United States occupies a special place among the nations of the world and possesses a unique destiny in history. I’ve heard it said, “American Exceptionalism is simply a fact.” I’m sure it is. Just like Greek...