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…
I was driving through a small town in Alabama yesterday and couldn’t help but notice the truck in front of me proudly exhibiting a Confederate flag. It had to be over twenty feet wide. For a split-second I wanted to confront the driver, calling out his egregious cloth monument. But, being at least slightly a…
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. What could possibly be more ridiculous than being a person of peace? Could you imagine how chaotic the world would be if more people devoted themselves to reconciliation, forgiveness, mercy, and wholeness? How long do you think it would take for evil to…
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Dunno. It sounds like a strange promise. What would you give up if all you were promised was to get a good look at God? Would you give up your reputation? Would you give up your job? Would you give up financial security? Before…
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. There is no single response more confounding to the rational mind as this way of life Jesus describes in the fifth beattitude. There is also nothing quite so refreshing as the action of mercy. It comes as no surprise then, that mercy is so rarely experienced. …
We are in desperate need of Jesus’ words, spoken long ago to a crowd gathered on a hillside. While we may not be able to connect to all that the divine teacher had to say, at least on this point, little translation is necessary. This past week, the nation has mourned the death of an…
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of the earth belongs to the tireless. The kingdom of the earth belongs to those who can walk the fine line between self-promotion and humility. The kingdom of the earth belongs to those who embrace certainty. The kingdom of the…
Hm, but you are hasty folk, I see. -Treebeard Long, long ago, before some uber-smart guys found out that the entire world could be connected through the power that would be known as the Internet, companies could change their policies without a gaggle of bloggers responding with venom. Perhaps within a 48-hour period, said companies may…
As I look out the window into our backyard garden, my eye is immediately drawn to the groupings of brown shoots that once served as the bases for mighty sunflowers, if memory serves me right. At the moment, it is hard to tell what they once were, in all their springtime splendor, in all their…
In the nineteen sixties and seventies some people with a ton of time on their hands lobbied to have pretty much any book that contained sex, drugs, or rock and roll in any of its various forms stricken from the record of humanity. Their idealogical descendants can currently be found denouncing flamboyant Telly Tubbies, or…
