https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4ZNi-VEmu4 Jerusalem cross on a Franciscan flag, Christian Media Center, Jerusalem. If Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's designee for Secretary of Defense, knows what he's talking about, I'm beginning to worry that I might be wearing an alt-right hate group's insignia around my neck. It's an inexpensive little Jerusalem cross I bought at a gift shop … Continue reading Hegseth’s Crusader tattoos: White supremacist dog whistles or ‘spiritual kitsch?’ Or a bit of both?
Notes on 19th-century Swedes in Illinois and an alt-country song from Appalachia (spiritual journal for March)
'Pastor's residence in Andover' Korsbanaret, 1880 (Google Books). Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director in advance of our session for March. I’ve been writing these for several years now, primarily in order to help me focus my mind before we talk. It’s not a record or an agenda of our … Continue reading Notes on 19th-century Swedes in Illinois and an alt-country song from Appalachia (spiritual journal for March)
Sundays@6: Lutherans in the Civil War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzSFgOSeqxs Satirical song about Germans commanded by Union Gen. Franz Sigel of St. Louis. Two things stand out in Jemar Tisby's treatment of the Civil War in The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church's Complicity in Racism. The first, and most obvious: It was always about slavery, and that fact "has not … Continue reading Sundays@6: Lutherans in the Civil War
Sundays@6: How the Lutherans’ first African American pastor in Philly got shafted by the church he loyally served
Link HERE to order Jehu Jones icon by Mary Button. Lightly edited copy of a blast email Debi and I sent out to participants in Sundays@6, our online adult faith formation group at Peace Lutheran Church, Springfield, for the fourth session in a book study on “The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American … Continue reading Sundays@6: How the Lutherans’ first African American pastor in Philly got shafted by the church he loyally served
‘We’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden’: Stray thoughts on original sin, medieval and Reformation theology
Jan Brueghel the Elder and Pieter Paul Rubens, Fall of Adam and Eve (Wikipedia) God is not a noun, that demands to be defined, God is a verb that invites us to live, to love and to be. -- The Right Rev. John Shelby Spong, Twitter, April 20, 2015 (qtd. Wikipedia) Maybe it's dumb luck, … Continue reading ‘We’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden’: Stray thoughts on original sin, medieval and Reformation theology
Of faith, doubt, ancient creeds, Pope Leo the Great, Attila the Hun and church history (spiritual direction, Jan.-Feb.)
Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director in advance of our session for February. I’ve been writing these for several years now, primarily in order to help me focus my mind before we talk. It’s not a record or an agenda of our sessions. (Often enough, we start discussing something … Continue reading Of faith, doubt, ancient creeds, Pope Leo the Great, Attila the Hun and church history (spiritual direction, Jan.-Feb.)
As Rome fell, a pope fought with Huns, Vandals and Byzantine Christians who had a slightly different version of the creed
Raphael, Leo the Great and Attila, Vatican, 1514 (Wikimedia Commons) At this point, we begin to move from the religion of Jesus (love your neighbor, turn the other cheek, prepare for the End of Days) to the religion about Jesus (he was the Son of God who died to absolve us of our sins). The … Continue reading As Rome fell, a pope fought with Huns, Vandals and Byzantine Christians who had a slightly different version of the creed
What do Constantine and the 4th-century Byzantine church councils tell us about the separation of church and state today?
Constantine Enters Rome, Peter Paul Reubens, 1621 (Wikimedia Commons). Beginning Saturday, I'll be auditing an online Church History Survey course offered by the Central/Southern Illinois Synod, ELCA. In addition to our assigned readings by Justo L. González listed below, we're assigned to write a one-page reflection paper on what we read. The prompt says: "While … Continue reading What do Constantine and the 4th-century Byzantine church councils tell us about the separation of church and state today?
Ordinary Time 