not quite reading rainbow …
I'm no LeVar Burton, but here's a sincere and enthusiastic recommendation for two new books on the subject of faith and justice ...
0 Comments1 Minute
can civilization survive without civility?
See what the PostChristian Blog says here ...
0 Comments1 Minute
Action on Climate Change – Can you do something today to make a difference?
You can if one of these people is your senator:
Barbara Boxer (CA)
Max Baucus (MT)
Thomas R. Carper (DE)
Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ)
Benjamin L. Cardin (MD)
Bernard Sanders (VT)
Amy Klobuchar (MN)
Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
Tom Udall (NM)
Jeff Merkley (OR)
Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)
Arlen Specter (PA)
How to help - it's not hard - after the jump ...
Along with a great summary of why climate change matters -
0 Comments7 Minutes
More from Nouwen … on silence and words
Continuing on the theme of silence and words (from the previous post), Nouwen quotes the Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu:
“The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of the word is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.”
Then he references Diadochus of Photiki:
“When the door of the steambath is continually left open, the heat inside rapidly escapes through it; likewise the soul, in its desire to say many things, dissipates its remembrance of God through the door of speech, even though everything it says may be good. Thereafter, the intellect, though lacking appropriate ideas, pours out a welter of confused thoughts to anyone it meets ...”
One recalls another great theologian, Bruce Cockburn ... in his song "Burden of the Angel/Beast" he says:
Those who know don't have the words to tell
And the ones with the words don't know too well
These are the warnings I carry in mind and heart today as I go out to share words ...
0 Comments1 Minutes
From New England …
After a few good days in Nova Scotia last week, I'm a little farther south in Connecticut today. I enjoyed the warm hospitality of Christ Church Greenwich over the weekend, and today I'll be with students at Berkeley and Yale Div schools and meeting with some clergy groups as well - a full day, and I'm looking forward to it.
Ramadan ended over the weekend, and the AP carried this story about the experience some of us shared.
Now, with the fast behind me, I feel that it's hard to talk about the experience. I can't explain or put into words what this has meant to me, and I fear that trying to do so will weaken or cheapen the experience. So I think I'll wait until the time is right (if it ever is), especially in light of what I was reading this morning about silence from Henri Nouwen:
Let us focus for a moment on theological education. What else is the goal of theological education than ... (More after the jump)
0 Comments3 Minutes