Tag Archives: existential musings
Top 10 Albums of 2012
Hard to believe that it is *that* time of year again, but here we are closing out 2012 and with it comes the attempt to tier the music that has overwhelmed (and at times underwhelmed) our hearts and souls these past 12 months. It has been a year with some surprises to be sure – from the horse dancing glee of Psy with “Gangnam Style” to the recent (so-called) reunion of Nirvana … There’s more to read here.
The heartbreaking work of love – Psalm 51 and why reading Scripture matters to hard hearts
A friend just sent me this wonderful rabbinical reflection:
“A rabbi told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put Scripture on their hearts. One of them asked, “Why on our hearts, and not in them?” The rabbi answered, “Only G-D can put Scripture inside. But reading sacred text can put in on your heart and then when your heart breaks, the holy words will fall inside.”
In that first breath of a new class: a professor’s thoughts standing at the podium on day one
There is that moment at the beginning of the academic year when the professor comes into the classroom, sets down his or her stack of papers and books, moves to the podium and begins class. It is a very mundane moment in many ways. Students chatter away, texting friends, drinking expensive espresso drinks in shimmering travel mugs with café logos you don’t get the reference to and you move … There’s more to read here.
The theology of the Occupy movement – we are the 99%
There have been so many off-shoots of the Occupy movement lately, some of it has been serious alignment with this important public discussion of corporate responsibility and government collusion and some of the blog chatter has simply been unreflective snark or poor satire. That said, people have taken the opportunity to make their voice heard, share a common vision, and reach out and connect with others who share these passions.… There’s more to read here.
What I learned on summer vacation – random thoughts at the end of the road
Each summer I have taken my family on a road trip through some of America’s national parks. Last summer we did the California redwoods, Yosemite National Park, and the Oregon Coast. This summer we worked our way through more of the Oregon Trail and down into Utah – Zion National Park, Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point, and some white water rafting on the Colorado River in Moab. These … There’s more to read here.
Third Verse Generation: the turning of the tide is pulling the old personalities away
I just returned from a wonderful intergenerational gathering of creatives: film makers, poets, studio artists, dancers and choreographers, novelists, essayists, apologists, working stage actors and directors, pastors and even some theologians in the mix. People were at turns extroverted to nominally passionate, distantly to distinctly vintage and pseudo to suburbanly Christian trending from high to low to no church. During the week together new friendships were forged, people who ‘liked’ status updates … There’s more to read here.
Pastor/Professor seeking Church – applications are now being accepted
Lately I am in a slump regarding the local church. I have been a pastor in a few different congregations and attended a number of churches in the US, UK and Europe. I have had peek experiences and cringe worthy ones. True, the call of the church is bigger than my experience and needs. True, the marks of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church permeate the momentary concerns of … There’s more to read here.
Emergent vs. Progressive: Phyllis Tickle, WB Yeats, Toad the Wet Sprocket and learning to let go
Last year I published a book entitled Freedom of the Self which was essentially an extended meditation on missional and emergent theology in light of kenosis. The book gets into areas of Continental philosophy as well and is one of those arguments in theology that often casts you as a radical, heretic, apostate or worse. One of the points I tried to make in the book is that the … There’s more to read here.
Holy Week: Ending violence, Patty Griffin, and taking steps towards the power of an invincible forgiveness
It seems strange to live on this side of Palm Sunday – so much excitement and optimism about what the world could be, how things might turn out always seems to be pointed toward the positive, affirmative, and hopeful. Yet we don’t live in an age of optimism. No, we are in the age after the possibilities of human potential, the failure of institutions that once held such promise … There’s more to read here.
Lenten music: Bonhoeffer, Dead Poet’s Society and the gift of being an alternative song
I wanted to share a portion of a letter from Dietrich Bonhoeffer written to his friend Eberhard Bethge while Bonhoeffer was in prison. Taproot Theatre is currently showing a marvelous dramatization of Bonhoeffer’s last days called “The Beams are Creaking” and it led me to re-read his Letters and Papers from Prison. Given that I just finished a book on pop music and that I think most naturally in … There’s more to read here.
