a prophetic voice-

Kansas...Georgia...Tennessee...Mississippi...Utah...Oregon... Hawaii... Arizona...these are some of the states which, in recent months, have begun the push for "religious freedom" bills like the one the governor of Arizona must sign or veto by Saturday. "Religious freedom" is the title that the people sponsoring and pushing these bills are hiding behind, once again waving the flag of fear in the name of religion...when what they are really doing is trying to legalize discrimination. As I understand it from what I've heard and read, the bill in Arizona would make it legal for store owners and businesses to refuse to serve or deal with people whose "lifestyle" or beliefs offend their own. But where does this stop? We have long fought for racial equality, but what would stop an Arizona store owner from refusing to serve a person of mixed race because the mixing of races is against his "religion"? What is to stop another from s...

CHOOSE LIFE…today’s reading from Deuteronomy, the voice of Moses speaking to the people, sounds a little like the gospel of prosperity being bandied about by far too many “Christian” writers and speakers today-Joel Osteen and others like him… those who tell us that following Jesus means we will be both healthy and wealthy… And yet, Moses is actually saying that in choosing life, the people of Israel would be choosing to live in relationship with Yahweh…loving God and obeying the commandments…   for that means life…which is a very different kind of prosperity. And then, along comes Jesus in Matthew’s fifth chapter…that conglomeration of t eachings called by us “The Sermon on the Mount”. And it sounds like a laundry list of impossibilities to me  t his re-working, this re-focusing of emphasis in the Law of Moses, t he Ten Commandments. Because Jesus takes them and makes them harder to keep, more difficult to follow… which somehow doesn’t seem very...

I  spent last evening listening to the remarkable Nadia Bolz-Weber read from and talk about her book- plus field questions from the audience in a way that was open, genuine, self-effacing, and thoroughly, totally Lutheran. We are of the same "tribe", she and I...though we came to it in completely antithetical ways. But I so resonated with her statement that Lutheran theology resonated with her own experience ...that its hallmark of grace, of its balance between law and gospel, of its insistence (coming directly from Martin Luther) that we are each and all both saint and sinner ring true for her- as they so for me. And I loved her emphasis on "doing theology in the first person"...speaking of God and speaking of your life together, with honesty, being just who you are. I had read her book, Pastrix, had been following her blog, had even seen several of her talks via YouTube, and I must confess that I had some reservations about this admittedly-unusua...

Week two of the internet-free experiment and I'm surviving nicely. Of course, they've seen me at the coffee shop far more often than they had in the past, but that works for me. And I am finding that I really have far less need for being on-line than I had myself convinced that I needed. Of course, I'm not a student nor is my "work" on-line...and I can send and receive email from my phone, so I am really connected all the time...even when I sometimes would rather not be. Which brings me to the retreat I'm taking part in this weekend. Begins Sunday afternoon, actually, and goes until Tuesday p.m... led by a wonderful, spiritual woman who I met many years ago at my favorite retreat center, Well of Mercy in Harmony, NC. This retreat is being held at a B&B in western NC and there will only be seven of us in attendance, all women in ministry. Kathryn, our leader, has chosen the title "In the Bleak Midwinter" for our time together and,...

With a brisk wind from the northeast, the temperature on my car thermometer reading 36, bundled in a warm jacket and wearing my lovely red gloves, I am amazed to see the daffodils in my front garden are budding. How in the world, why in the world, are they doing this when winter is still with us, when the still- naked trees surround them with reminders that spring is not yet on the horizon? Yet, what a hopeful sign they are, these tender, early buds...a reminder that life and light emerges, ever and always, from the death and darkness of winter. And as I drove to the coffee shop, I found myself smiling with eager anticipation of the gorgeous yellow blooms to come, bringing yet more light and beauty and wonder and joy where for months there has been only winter's gray barrenness. February daffies Yes, I'm back at De Been, using the internet, since there are a number of things I need to research...like the Opium Wars and new recipes to try out on my friends an...

Day 2 of wirelessness finds me sitting at the DeBeen Coffee Shop, a great, funky, neighborhood place, checking Facebook, sending emails, putting items on reserve at the library...all of this amidst lots of local high school and college kids. I just enjoyed a decaf Red Eye and watched a wonderful YouTube video, laughing all the while. And shortly, I'll head home to make supper and watch the 6:30 news. Can't forget...joined the "Mall Walkers" today, since our rainy, damp, chilly weather has just not been conducive to outdoor walking. I know, I know...that's just for old people...but I am chronologically one of those, and I found it to be quite lovely, i n spite of the fact that our mall is mostly composed of empty stores, since it has been purchased by High Point University. The emptiness was highly conducive to meditation as I walked, in the distant company of about 8 other people. Have to check with the YMCA to see if they have an indoor walking...

On Monday, I'm taking the plunge...I'm getting rid of my home  internet.  No, I am not a total Luddite...in fact, I'm online far more  than I care  to admit. The reason is far more simple: I'm doing it  to save money.  Several months ago, I changed providers, reducing  my bill by almost  half. But since then, I've been trying to be  brutally honest with myself  about my finances...or more specifically,  on what I spend my money  and why. You see, I've decided this  is a matter of values...of quite  literally putting my money where  my mouth is...or in other words,  on what it is I SAY is important  to me. And I've been discovering that  home internet isn't one of  those things. Oh, I know...there may be days when I won't want to go to the  library  or Starbucks or DeBeen coffee shop (a great local place)  to use their  Wifi connections, but since I receive ema...