1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity?2 No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth. The gift of the psalms is that they are always relevant. Even King David, the named writer of the 58th Psalm, knew that justice was not a feature that rulers…
Am I my brother’s keeper? Nothing surpasses the joy and wonder of a child. The possibilities, the potentialities, the first steps, the crazed screams of jubilation arising over the sighting of a dog call each mother and father, each aunt and uncle and plenty of unsuspecting strangers to attention. This is inherent in what it…
Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? Is this not the fast that I choose: to…
There is a nasty habit in the history of God that takes center stage on days like today. Ash Wednesday marks the official beginning of the season of Lent in the Christian calendar. Lent is the season when we collectively turn away from ourselves and toward the cross, confessing our sin and longing to be…
Back in high school, all my friends were listening to the usual radio stations–dear God, Nickleback had the number one song my senior year–but my brother and I were a bit more antiestablishment, even back then. We rolled down the road in our dad’s ’88 Bronco II (which is still the coolest truck or car…
…from dust you are, and to dust you shall return. I didn’t know whether to smile or hang my head in shame as the pastor spoke these words over me this morning. Should I thank her for the blessing of the ashen cross she scetched upon my forehead? I know better than to argue with…
We theologians are famous for missing the point. Oh, we love to be embroiled in a controversy of whether or not God selects us before we select him, but we oftentimes run right past the starting point and forget to remember our basic problem: our hearts are dark. The fact that we miss that point…
Don’t ask too many questions, if you please We want to save you the hassle, save you the guilt There is just something that needs to be done And you are our teeth. Ever since the teeth of the lion devoured in our peaceful streets Ravaging our peace, dismantling our shalom You have been…
Suffering means being cut off from God. Therefore those who live in communion with him cannot really suffer. –Bonhoeffer As a rule I do not argue with experts. When I go to the neurologist, I can think what I want but at the end of the day, I will gladly have my head examined and…
Spring is in the air. Flowers are in bloom. Lovers are strolling down the lane. Pollen is dropping from the sky like manna from heaven. We have one less hour in the morning and one more at night. Some of us are giving up chocolate- not me, of course- for lent. Easter celebrations ranging from…
