Screen grab of the Post's website this morning. Seen today on the Washington Post website (the second Sunday after Epiphany, no less!), a perceptive article on President-elect Joe Biden's Catholic faith that raises some of the same issues I hope to touch on in my expanded study of cultural issues in the old Swedish-American Augustana … Continue reading Notes & Quotes: Article on Joe Biden’s faith in The Washington Post
Reflections on prayer in the parking lot of a walk-in clinic during a time of pandemic
It's a perfect late fall afternoon, blustery with tufts of white cloud scudding past in a blue sky. Temperature in the 40s, but enough sunshine coming through the windshield that I don't have the car heater on while I'm waiting in the HSHS PromptCare walk-in clinic's parking lot on MacArthur. This is how we do … Continue reading Reflections on prayer in the parking lot of a walk-in clinic during a time of pandemic
Notes on an election-day article about Lincoln, the better angels of our nature and the book of Job
https://www.facebook.com/133051906718090/photos/a.1509816089041658/3741315792558332 On the same day as Tuesday's election, the Jesuit magazine America published an article I thought was singularly appropriate to the occasion. It was what we used to call a "think piece" in the newspaper business, an essay by a divinity student and political activist on what comfort -- if "comfort" is the right … Continue reading Notes on an election-day article about Lincoln, the better angels of our nature and the book of Job
Well done, good and faithful servants: A memorial plaque in a university chapel and a meditation for All Saints’ Day
Memorial plaque in All Saints' Chapel, University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn. When my parents lived in the suburbs of Atlanta, Debi and I would drive to Atlanta and back just about every time I had a school vacation. Sometimes I'd drive down on my own. Either way, the trip settled into a set rhythm. … Continue reading Well done, good and faithful servants: A memorial plaque in a university chapel and a meditation for All Saints’ Day
Next year in Jersusalem? Keeping the faith in a time of pandemic, absence and exile
Everydayness in Jerusalem -- stray cat surveys his domain in the Old City. A couple of days ago we brought several weeks' worth of magazines in from the garage, where we quarantine our incoming mail. So I've been binge-reading the Christian Century, and an article from the Oct. 7 issue reached out and grabbed me. … Continue reading Next year in Jersusalem? Keeping the faith in a time of pandemic, absence and exile
Rethinking grief, detachment, the Book of Job and the engravings of William Blake (!) in a time of pandemic
William Blake, Illustrations of the Book of Job, Plate 21 William Blake has never been exactly my cup of tea. When it comes to English Romantic poets, I'm more of a Byron and Wordsworth guy, and I like cats too much to get much pleasure out of thinking about Blake's tiger "burning bright, / In the … Continue reading Rethinking grief, detachment, the Book of Job and the engravings of William Blake (!) in a time of pandemic
Plenty to think about on the road to Caesarea Philippi (Pentecost XII)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwlJtc_3Ioo&t=114s Grace Lutheran Church Chancel Choir, Tallahassee, "Built On A Rock the Church Shall Stand" Oct. 30, 2011. P. The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew the 16th Chapter.C. Glory to you, O Lord.At a climactic point in Jesus’ ministry, God reveals to Peter that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Sonof the living God,” and … Continue reading Plenty to think about on the road to Caesarea Philippi (Pentecost XII)
An unfinished outline on a Finnish theologian: Mannermaa, theosis and Lutheran-Russian Orthodox dialog
NOTE: This is something about Luther's concept of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that I was working on last month, before I learned my proposal had been accepted for the Illinois History Conference sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum -- and my priorities changed! Now I have to crash my paper, … Continue reading An unfinished outline on a Finnish theologian: Mannermaa, theosis and Lutheran-Russian Orthodox dialog
Of outward signs, inward grace and Pastor Nadia’s prayer for a time of pandemic when the sacraments can’t be celebrated
Screenshot from Pastor Nadia's FB post. Click HERE for permalink. Click HERE for text. Sometimes you find exactly what you need at exactly the right moment, and you don't know why. Serendipity? Coincidence? The Holy Spirit at work? In 12-step recovery meetings, sometimes you'll hear the old-timers say a coincidence is what you call it … Continue reading Of outward signs, inward grace and Pastor Nadia’s prayer for a time of pandemic when the sacraments can’t be celebrated
Tips from a Harvard Business Review item on grief and a poet’s advice on the medieval sin of sloth in a time of global pandemic
We've been catching up on reading magazines lately, and I saw something in a back issue of Christian Century that made a lot of sense. (We're playing catchup because we're "quarantining" our mail till we know more about how long the COVID-19 bug lives on surfaces. Debi stacks it up in the garage and doesn't … Continue reading Tips from a Harvard Business Review item on grief and a poet’s advice on the medieval sin of sloth in a time of global pandemic
