Encounter and Aggression

When I was a boy, one of the earliest lessons my mother attempted to teach me was that if you were good to others, they would be good to you. In light of the tension between congeniality and compatibility we have been reflecting on these past days, her formative directive to me was “get along to go along.” As an adult, and especially in my later years, I have come to recognize that my mother had a deep anxiety that somehow I would have difficulty in life “getting along” and being accepted. Now this interpretation may not be true at[read more]

Possessions or Conversation

Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.  Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support them if they stayed together; their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.  There were quarrels between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and those[read more]

Jealousy and Truth

The high priest rose up and all his companions, that is, the part of the Sadducees, and, filled with jealousy, laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail. Acts 5: 17 But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in[read more]

Listening To The Other

The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.”  Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”  He replied, “how can I, unless someone instructs me?”  So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. Acts 8:29-31 Jesus said[read more]

Love and Not Sacrifice

First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delight in.”  These are offered according to the law.  Then he says, “Behold, I come to to do your will.”  He takes away the first to establish the second.  By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the[read more]

The Presumption of Knowing

What is our greatest obstacle to change, reformation, and transformation in both our personal and shared lives? One of the ways we navigate the mystery of life is by an arrogant presumption that we know and understand. This is most at work in us in the most familiar settings of our lives.[read more]