“Science is a body of knowledge, but it’s also a human activity. Like religion, science does not exist in a vacuum and is not immune from cultural influences. Cosmos does pretty well with science as a body of knowledge. Yet it misunderstands how science works as a human activity, creating a narrative that ultimately fails everyone who marvels at the wonders of the cosmos.”
~ Elizabeth Yale
What do Shane Claiborne and Walt Whitman have in common? Very little, I suppose. But they intersect in my mind’s work this week. Claiborne recently spoke at Bethany Theological Seminary where I am taking a class called Theopoetics. Enter Whitman. Lauded by all the leading thinkers and writers in the field of theopoetics, old Walt,…
“I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.”
~ Matthew 25:40 CEB
“We must re-present Jesus.”
~ Shane Claiborne
“The tension between democracy and empire seems to be a permanent feature of the American condition. By the same token, religious liberals seem cursed to live with the tension between energizing hope and the temptation toward paralyzing cynicism. But we must recognize that cynicism is a luxury of privilege, a negative spirituality that in the end only feeds the forces of empire. We can maintain our hope, and be true to our religious ideals, if we remember that this very dissonance, this tension that so often frustrates us, can be creative as well as destructive. It can fuel the passion to question, the courage to be prophetic, and the faith to hope.”
~ Paul Rasor
“But now that so much is changing, isn’t it time for us to change? Couldn’t we try to gradually develop and slowly take upon ourselves, little by little, our part in the great task of love?”
―Rainer Maria Rilke
Whether it’s over the denial of evolutionary science, continued opposition to gender equality in the church, an unhealthy alliance between religion and politics or the obsession with opposing gay marriage, evangelicalism is losing a generation to the culture wars.
A recent survey from Public Religion Research Institute revealed that nearly one-third of millennials who left their childhood faith did so because of“negative teachings” or “negative treatment” of gay and lesbian people.
Christians can disagree about what the Bible says (or doesn’t say) about same-sex marriage. This is not an issue of orthodoxy. But when we begin using child sponsorships as bargaining tools in our debates, we’ve lost the way of Jesus.
So my question for those evangelicals is this: Is it worth it?
— Rachel Held Evans
“I been told and I believe – ain’t no justice, ain’t no peace.” ~ Esperanza Spalding
A lived theology: Pete Seeger wrote only one song that explicitly mentions God (at age 92), but his life and music powerfully resisted war, oppression and destruction of the earth. Like the words scribed on his banjo, this man surrounded hate and forced it to surrender!
This week, the public radio program Interfaith Voices attempted to explore the heart of Unitarian Universalism . . . questions linger . . .
“Writing isn’t just about expressing what you think, it’s about discovering what you think, or thinking different because of your writing. And one of my great learnings in writing the articles was the degree to which if I just relied on the faith I started with and then tried to explicate it, I would have run out of things to say fairly fast. But the project of writing actually asked me to think anew and to grow in faith differently, in ways that I was not entirely anticipating.” — Mark Douglas
“I am a child of God. I am a trauma survivor, a compassionate listener, an empathic healer, an intuitive truth teller. I am a death doula, a minister to souls, a witness, and a guide: a midwife for the Holy. I walk alongside those who are suffering and afraid. I help others to discern God’s will in their own lives. I serve as a reminder of God’s presence in each moment. I am the Quaker shaman.”
~ Emma M. Churchman
While traditionalists and communitarians have accused contemporary spirituality of narcissism for decades, the emergence of corporate spirituality has prompted a new wave of cultural criticism. Is mindfulness becoming the servant of neo-liberal capitalism — a way to soothe the nerves of professionals so they can, in turn, serve the bottom line? Can spirituality do better?
Why would anyone want to remember, much less celebrate, the fact that you’re going to die?
Because it’s the truth.
– Sara Miles
“Our destiny is written in the hand.”
—Renate Hiller
Public Theology 