by Mona Eltahawy
I recently visited India to speak at a conference called “Future to the Responsibility”.
When I landed in Mumbai, a driver called Arun was fortunately waiting for me at the airport, armed with an umbrella for the rains which really taught me what a Monsoon is!
We had quite a long drive to the hotel […]
by Susan Andrews
The Season of Passion has always been the most significant rhythm of the year for me as a spiritual pilgrim. One of my earliest memories of the church is sitting in the three hour Good Friday service – my Dad preaching one of the “seven last words” – and my mother singing, in […]
by Roy Howard
It used to be conventional wisdom to avoid religion and politics at gatherings of friends and family. Nowadays, it’s nearly impossible not to talk about them. I think that’s a good thing; after all, for people of faith their religious convictions, if they mean anything at all, certainly inform their political opinions. It’s […]
by Roy Howard
Merciful God of all people, we remember before you the people of Pakistan in the hour of their grief and the crisis of their nation. In this time, work with those who seek the peace of all people, that the leaders of Pakistan, along with other world leaders, would be instruments of wisdom […]
by Jarrett McLaughlin
Writing “Thank you” notes was never a personal strength of mine. It really wasn’t until I got married that I ever really wrote one. Suddenly, my wife Meg deposited into my lap a ten page spreadsheet of all the people we needed to thank for our wedding. Notes to the wedding guests were […]
by Roy Howard
Just for a day
let peace abide.
Just for a day,
let the ancient land called holy
soaked in blood, be quiet.
Just for a day
let peace abide.
Bring them away
from Bethlehem and Jerusalem,
from Nazareth and Nablus,
from Damascus, Riyadh and Amman.
Just for a day
let peace abide.
Bring them away from violence
slouching toward Annapolis;
unclench fists, open hardened hearts,
shatter foolish pride,
encourage risk […]
by Roy Howard
I just returned from Israel and the West Bank. Is there any hope left for peace with Israel and the Palestinians? Jackson Diehl of the Washington Post suggests that the last vestige of any remaining hope may life in the Annapolis Summit scheduled for early December. I agree with him. But, as always, […]
by Jarrett McLaughlin
Is the Church becoming nothing more than a beautiful place to get married? This question comes as one among many questions being asked about the future of the Church and its place in the social fabric of America. As a Pastor of Young Adult ministry, I hear many such questions from that faithful generation […]
by Roy Howard
John Updike once said he wanted to write with the same dedication as the monks whose vocation is to carve Psalms on the bottom side of choir seats. I can’t find the reference anymore but the quote has lived with me for years. Why? I imagine those beautifully carved choir seats that few […]
By Mona Eltahawy
I’m from Cairo, a city that during the day is home to an estimated 18 million people. Driving through the city – I should say megapolis – is the nightmare you would imagine and crossing the streets requires a strong heart, some would say a death wish.
Which is why what happens every evening […]
by Jim Burklo
It was a cube consisting of many separate pieces of charred wood, each piece dangling from a thin black wire, hanging from the ceiling of the De Young Museum in San Francisco. This artwork by Cornelia Parker was entitled “Anti-Mass”. It was a compelling sight. It reminded me of the way blackened embers […]
by Meg Peery McLaughlin
They were traveling up the center aisle to see the body. Moving with faithful footsteps toward the one they dearly loved. Tears filled their eyes and they held tight to daughters and sisters as they came forward to view the deceased, hands folded calmly, suit freshly pressed.
I had lost the battle, you […]
by Robert K. Martin
Theology.
What is it?
Where does it lead?
What difference does it make?
As a kid raised in a Southern Baptist family in a Southern Baptist home in a Southern culture (Louisiana, which could be considered “southern-kicked up a notch”, especially if you have read Rebecca Wells “The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya […]
by Roy Howard
This is a story about neighbors.
Marduk is my neighbor. We share a fence in the suburbs of Maryland near Washington, DC. “In my country” or “in my village” is how Marduk begins many sentences, having lived in Iran until seven years ago when he moved to Maryland with his wife and two children. […]
by David Bartlett
Earlier this spring I joined a group of preachers studying the lectionary texts for the season of Pentecost. We were reminded of the quip attributed to Alfred Loisy the French New Testament scholar: “Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom but what we got was the church.”
The clear implication of that statement is that we ought […]
by Ali Trowbridge
Henri Nouwen wrote that sometimes it is in and through our sufferings that we come to know God and experience God’s call. Entering into the suffering of the poor is one way to become obedient, to become a listener of God. “Suffering accepted and shared in love breaks down our selfish defenses and […]
by Roy Howard
I remember years ago Dr. Bernie Siegel saying to his patients, most of whom were suffering cancer, “In the face of uncertainty, it is not wrong to hope.” Countering the conventional medical advice of the time, which he found to be utterly pessimistic and even destructive, Siegel was telling his patients to summon all […]