a prophetic voice-

For some reason, last evening, I was thinking about creeds, about how the words of the ancient, traditional creeds of the Church no longer seem to speak my heart's truth, my life's experience. I realize this is, in some circles, pure heresy, but I have long been a heretic when it comes to orthodoxy, so my straying off the tried- and- true and accepted path is  nothing new. In fact, if truth be told, I spend most of my time off the beaten spiritual path, either wandering in the wilderness of my own doubts and questions or dancing in the cleansing, enlightening rain of joy and wonder and mystery with no need for any answers at all. And so, when I awoke this morning with these things still tumbling around in my mind, I decided to compose my own personal creed, putting into words my heartfelt beliefs- at least for today. I share them i n the hope that they may speak truth to some of you, too, fellow pilgrims. +I believe in a God who perpetually creates all that is ...

The words came into my semi-aware consciousness from the radio  on  my bedside table..."Christian militias" the reporter on NPR was  saying,  reporting about the on-going conflict in the Central African  Republic  between Muslims and Christians. The seeming incongruity  of the words  stayed with me as I showered, preparing for the day,  and I could  not shake their oxymoronic quality. Christianity, after  all, is to be a  religion of peace, isn't it? a religion which calls for  love of BOTH neighbor  and enemy...a belief system which calls for  turning the other cheek  and caring for the last and least. So how  has it become a source of  and justification for war? When and how  did we humans come to the  conclusion that the only way for me  to be right is for you to be wrong? And why has that become so  important? How did we reach this place in  human history wh...

religion? Re-ligiare, that early Latin word from which "religion" and "religious" come, meant- in those early Latin days-     to re-connect, to re-member         what has been dis-membered...     to return to our deepest, truest selves,         remembering what we already know. How, then, has religion become something which divides,                 which dis-members                     the family of humanity,                  pitting sister against sister,                  brother against brother,         ...

And so another Sabbath dawns... the earth around me blessed by the rains of the past two days... greens once again green and the patina of dust washed away for the time being. A morning of giving thanks...a morning of opening myself to the presence of the Holy...a morning of being exactly where I am at this moment and feeling gratitude for this time and place, even as I prepare to lead worship at the lovely little church south of Lexington, NC. Faith and the spiritual journey has long been the subject of reflection for me, aware that my own journey has taken and continues on a long and ciruitous path, a path which has moved from the Sunday school understandings of my youth to the wide-open embrace of the value of traditions not my own, to what they can teach me, to the light they bring to my own enlightenment. And so, I share with you, dear ones, some of my writings about faith from the past year, hoping they will perhaps shed some light upon your own path, since in reality we are wa...