Posts Categorized: Spirituality

Sightings

  Fireflies The light is for shining by Ken Rummer   Wild flowers are blooming on the embankment leading up to the trail. It’s an old railroad right of way that’s being encouraged to go natural, now sporting some prairie grasses and the blooms that show with them. This being our first summer here, I… Read more »

The Unglued Church

Building new ramps Can we connect people who love God but not church?  By Susan Rothenberg   One of the reasons I am grateful for Facebook, despite its dastardly power to distract me from the useful tasks I should be doing, is that social media has reacquainted me with people I haven’t seen nor heard… Read more »

Speak Out

The Spirit in action A polity wonk’s guide to pneumatic presence By Robert Bayley Come, O Spirit, dwell among us; come with Pentecostal power; Give the church a stronger vision; help us face each crucial hour. Built upon a firm foundation, Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone, Still the church is called to mission that God’s love… Read more »

Not Quite Right

Don’t let the church become fake news Proclaiming good news in a divided culture By Joshua Bower   Our culture is in the grip of a “fake news” epidemic. Christians are falling prey to it, and, if we’re not careful, the church’s witness could be deeply harmed. Before I go any further, I need to… Read more »

Wisdom Journey

If God is good, then why…? Confirmands play stump the pastor By Graham Standish   Too often we blame God for things we do to ourselves, for things others do to us, or for what others do to others. Then we credit ourselves for blessings that come from God, and others for the blessings that… Read more »

Wisdom Journey

Is today really that bad? Was yesterday really that good? By N. Graham Standish We tend to look at the past wistfully, the present critically, and the future fearfully. But as Christians we are called to look at life through a different lens. We are called to look at the past realistically, the present faithfully,… Read more »

Speak Out

Out of the Ash By Rebecca Lindsay   A blast, a catastrophic splintering that snapped titan trunks like asparagus in a cook’s hand— On that fateful day living wood shattered screaming as it fell, radiating outward from the epicenter of a mountain gone mad. Ash snowed, reigned, sifted into pockets, crevices, creating instant desolation that… Read more »

Wisdom Journey

Short speech. Short temper? Texts and tweets are better for expressing contempt, not compassion By N. Graham Standish Efficient conversation often elicits conflict. Compassionate conversation often compels companionship and cooperation. The question is whether we have the patience for compassion.   We are increasingly communicating in efficient ways. That seems to be the thrust of… Read more »

Speak out

Stables, superheroes and stories Narrating life as it goes By Jennifer Frayer-Griggs   My three year old sits in his carseat and incessantly talks all the way to preschool. Everyday. It makes me crazy. It’s too early for this, and he’s distracting me from the NPR newscast. But, he never relents. He’s gotten to the… Read more »

Wisdom journey

Rediscovering holy wholeness Material miracles and spiritual malignancy By N. Graham Standish Modern people are a compartmentalized people, which makes them efficient, expedient, and effective. But it also eviscerates their spirit by carving the world into secular and sacred compartments. Spiritual people are integrated people who consecrate the sacred in all of life, recognizing everything… Read more »