God’s counting on us

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!  

Believing Aloud: An Interview with Mark Douglas

“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

Midwife for the Holy

“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

The Amphetamine of the Upper Middle Class?

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?

Eugene Peterson on the role of writers in the church

Eugene Peterson, author of the modern-day translation of the New Testament, “The Message”, talks about storytelling, imagination, and the role of poets and novelists in the life of the church: “we should ordain them,” he says. From the 2007 Writers Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University.