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 Jim Burklo
O little town of Bethlehem
A wall thee now divides
Above thy concertina wire
The silent stars go by
Beyond the wall the soldiers
Aim rifles toward the sky
Militias roaming streets inside
Ignore the baby’s cry
The settlements and suicides
Injustice, greed and hate,
O little town, you seem to drown
In tears for your hapless fate
But hear the choir of angels
Their great […]
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 Jim Burklo
Christianity has concerned itself with matters of war and peace for almost its entire history. The one unifying assumption of the faith has been that war is terrible and is to be avoided assiduously. There has always been a part of Christianity that has rejected war absolutely, considering participation in it to be […]
by Susan Andrews
My outrage has lain dormant for years. The transitions in my life has consumed my energy – new job, new house, parents aging and dying, children planning weddings. Who has the time to be outraged? But finally I am.
It was a combination of the headline – buried on page 23. And then there […]
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 David Bartlett
“Do not ask for whom the bell tolls,” John Donne famously enjoined his congregation. These days most of us in America seem to be following his instructions, but for reasons exactly opposite to what he had in mind.
Donne was reminding his hearers that the death of anyone involves us all. None of us […]