10 Commandments and Hubris
I was in Ex 20 this morning. Besides the fact that I have broken every one of the 10 in so many ways except the obvious ones people think of. I often put myself as a god before God. I have used His name in vain. Even when I remember the sabbath (most weeks in [...]
God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut
On the anniversary of the death of Kurt Vonnegut Jr, a comparative essay full of allusions and homages. Writing as Remembering, or On Vonnegut, Hemingway and Camus: A Duty Dance with Death In Howard’s End, E.M. Forster wrote that ”Death destroys a man, but it’s the idea of death that saves him.” Death is usually [...]
Rules For Living
Cultivate kindness, patience, gratitude and wonder Practice forgiveness Deal with the concrete person before you, not abstractions, generalizations of characterizations Cause no unnecessary suffering Be a good steward Put people ahead of things Do the little things when you can Be present where you are Develop a right relationship with food Pray consistently Devour the [...]
Ancient Wisdom on Abortion
I ran across this quote today in a completely unrelated search, at The Tertullian Project, found in Tertullian’s Apologeticum: “To us murder is once for all forbidden ; so even the child in the womb, while yet the mother’s blood is still being drawn on to form the human being, it is not lawful for [...]
Which Theologian Are You
You scored as a Anselm. Anselm is the outstanding theologian of the medieval period. He sees man’s primary problem as having failed to render unto God what we owe him, so God becomes man in Christ and gives God what he is due. You should read ‘Cur Deus Homo?‘ Anselm 100% Martin Luther 87% Augustine [...]
Real Excellence
Chuck Colson recently commented on the performance enhancing drug epidemic in professional sports in “Monsters of Our Own Making,” an article he wrote for Breakpoint. Colson was a strong influence on me years ago, especially his book Loving God, in which he introduced me to William Wilberforce. Colson acknowledged his debt to Wilberforce by creating [...]
Advent Romantic
Most people have no idea I’m a Romantic, in the classical sense (irony intended) but I’m just flat hopeless. I believe in Great Love, High Adventure, Noble Causes and Glorious Death! I’m right there with Thoreau wanting to suck the marrow out of life. Like Gatsby I have “a heightened sensitivity to the promise of [...]
Why I Am Lutheran—Part I: Liturgy
I’ve never agreed with the statement that familiarity breeds contempt. I have found that all too often familiarity breeds inattention, not apathy or callousness so much as forgetful neglect. Unfortunately, we humans all too often take for granted that which is most precious and familiar to us. And it’s not just “stuff” we do that [...]
Sinning Against Our Brothers (Late Commentary on Da Vinci)
When I first heard about The Da Vinci Code, I said “That’s a straight-up rip-off of Holy Blood, Holy Grail.” It’s not a new idea or a very original one; it’s just plotted differently. If you can’t succeed with “history” or literature (The Last Temptation of Christ) then pop culture is where you sow your [...]
Foucault’s Folly
Unable to participate in national debates in any other way, I have participated in religion and politics discussion forums on the Internet for years. I have noticed that many of the exchanges are based on power. Discussions are frequently full of postmodern machinations designed to subvert any attempts at clear thinking. It is an axiom [...]
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