Goodness and Holiness

In his book on Teresa of Avila, Rowan Williams describes Teresa’s view of “good” people who occupy the third mansions of her interior castle. He notes that for Teresa, “To be ‘good’ without humility is to be condemned to a really wretched life, ‘weighed down with this mud of our human misery.’” Saul is a zealot of the first order. He believes that these disciples of Jesus are a threat to the primacy of the Law, to the necessary order of an orthodox Jewish life. They are a disturbance to the order and the peace of an obedient and well-ordered[read more]

Christmas 2018 – Congregational Letter, Vol. VI, No. 3

The Christmas spirit is something I look forward to every year. Perhaps it is the child still in me! Something magical seems to fill the air. People seem kinder and more aware of others, and more caring about those in need. Even strangers seem friendlier. No doubt that the sounds of Christmas carols, the scent and sight of the pine trees decorated with brightly colored lights fill my senses and bring out the child in me. Yet, I also know there is something deeper to the Christmas spirit.[read more]

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory

When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms.  But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” Acts 3: 3-4 And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it[read more]