“ . . . but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” —Jeremiah 9:24
Monday, January 21, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
“…we live in a desert with many lonely travelers who are looking for a moment of peace…”
It is natural to think of the opposite action of solitude (inward focus) as action with an outward focus. Henri Nouwen suggests rather that it is openness to the other – hospitality.
“Hospitality is the virtue which allows us to break through the narrowness of our own fears and to open our houses to the stranger, with the intuition that salvation comes to us in the form of a tired traveler. Hospitality makes anxious disciples into powerful witnesses, makes suspicious owners into generous givers, and makes closed-minded sectarians into interested recipients of new ideas and insights.
But it has become very difficult for us today to fully understand the implications of hospitality. Like the Semitic nomads, we live in a desert with many lonely travelers who are looking for a moment of peace, for a fresh drink and for a sign of encouragement so that they can continue their mysterious search for freedom.
What does hospitality as a healing power require? It requires first of all that the host feel at home in his own house, and secondly that he create a free and fearless place for the unexpected visitor.” – Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer
Friday, January 18, 2013
That’s my only choice?
How can we believe that the issues facing a nation of 300 million people covering vast geographical distances can be reduced to two political positions?
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Happy Birthday Reverend King
“…the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice--or will we be extremists for the cause of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill, three men were crucified. We must not forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thusly fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.”
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