Theolog

To hug or not to hug

By Jason Byassee

“Middle school bans hugging!” the headline screamed. Apparently Illinois youth at one school were so intertwined that hallway traffic became snarled, and the administration had to step in. Not content to rest her case on the importance of timely arrival in class, the principal added this nugget of wisdom: “Hugging is really more appropriate for airports or for family reunions than passing and seeing each other every few minutes in the halls.” The principals I remember hardly exuded warmth. Perhaps they’re the right people to police who hugs whom on school time.

The story made me think of the appropriateness of hugging after church.

Blogging toward Sunday

By Michael Pasquarello III
Luke 19:1-10
Sunday, November 4

A tale of two rich folks

As a lectionary preacher, I’ve journeyed through the Gospel of Luke for over 25 years. But this year I noticed something new. Luke places the story of two rich folks in close textual proximity; in chapter 18, a rich official remains nameless; in chapter 19, we meet a chief tax collector named Zacchaeus. And in between? The two stories are divided by Luke’s account of Jesus healing a blind beggar.

Prayer as paying attention

By Amy Frykholm

When I was in college, I encountered French existentialist philosopher Simone Weil’s awkwardly titled essay “Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies With a View to the Love of God.” It stirred up in me a strong interest in focused and concentrated study. I was fascinated by her suggestion that the right use of study was cultivating attention, an attention that paved the way for prayer. Weil argues this is the “real object and almost the sole interest of studies.” Whatever the success of the studies themselves and whatever the subject studied, the pursuit is attention, a quality that leads eventually to compassion and to love of God. “Quite apart from explicit religious belief,” Weil writes, “every time that a human being succeeds in making an effort of attention with the sole idea of increasing his grasp of truth, he acquires a greater aptitude for grasping it, even if his effort produces no visible fruit.” As we desire the light, we increase our capacity for perceiving it.

After college I spent a dark, lonely year as an English teacher in Tallinn, Estonia.

Will you know them by the cars they drive?

By Richard Kauffman

For a little over a year now my wife Suzanne and I have been driving a Toyota Prius. We’re getting around 46 miles per gallon, less than that during the winter.

According to reports I’ve read, people who drive a Prius are making a statement. “Look at me,” they’re saying. “I’m not as dependent on oil as you are. I’m doing something for the environment, since my car not only uses less gas but also spews less CO2 into the environment per gallon of gas.” According to one source, at 12,000 miles a year, Prius produces 2.6 tons of global warming pollution compared to 6.4 tons for the average sedan.

Blogging toward Sunday

By Stan Wilson
Luke 18:9-14
Sunday, October 28

Who are you talking about, Jesus?

About whom exactly is Jesus talking here? That’s a tricky question. Luke tells us that he speaks against “some” who trust in themselves because they are righteous. But we want names.

Traditionally, we have assumed that Jesus was condemning Pharisees, and we have let them stand for Jews in general. But this is deep and tragic irony. Far from condemning all Pharisees, Jesus is using one as an example of virtue not yet transformed by the love of God. So again, who are these people?

Advancing dialogue

By Jason Byassee

“I spent the first 18 years of my life as a Catholic, and was never once encouraged to read the Bible. Why not?”

It was the sort of direct, impassioned question one rarely hears asked in polite ecumenical dialogue. The panelists, two evangelicals and two Catholics, squirmed a bit before Father Tomas Baima (Mundelein Seminary) replied with consummate grace, “Your priest probably thought reading the Bible was a Protestant thing to do, so he didn’t tell you to do it. We all practice ‘over-against’ logic.” The evangelicals’ answers to questions about the sacraments and Mary suggested the same sort of “we don’t because they do” theology. John Armstrong of Wheaton College told listeners that evangelicals are busily reappraising the role Mary has in salvation.

Dog park community

By Amy Frykholm

“I know one thing,” my priest said in a recent sermon. “Community heals.” My thoughts went immediately to dog parks. No, my small town doesn’t have a dog park. But when my family travels to larger towns, my son loves to visit their dog parks. He watches the dogs; I watch the humans. Both are fascinating.

The dog park is a peculiar new form of human (and canine) community. A friend of mine from the park has an office job. Every morning, he drives to a subway station and takes the subway to work. Once there, he works in a cubicle. He reverses the process in the evening. A few minutes after returning from work, he gets back in his car and takes his dog to the dog park.

Blogging toward Sunday

By Stan Wilson

Last year I attended a prayer vigil in downtown Jackson on the night of a scheduled execution. A hard rain was falling. I recognized a couple of people as fellow clergy and a couple of others as consistent advocates for justice in our small state. It was just a small crowd composed of those who have been praying and working against capital punishment for years.

The service called for some readings followed by a lengthy period of silence before the scheduled hour, followed by the tolling of the bells. Silence is never easy for me, so I was relieved when the bells began ringing, but the bells kept on ringing—they came in sets of three, followed by silence, then more bells. Before long I became antsy, wondering when they would quit. Were they ringing the age of the victim or the age of the man being executed? Apparently not; there were only the three rings followed by silence followed by ringing for what seemed an eternity.

Church billing gone awry

By John Dart

A Simi Valley, California, church was billed nearly $40,000 to reimburse the city for police protection at a noisy demonstration outside church doors by anti-illegal immigration protesters. The idea of charging the target of a protest was called absurd—unconstitutional—by lawyers and clergy. It is customary, they said, for law officers to keep order while demonstrators exercise their rights of expression, in this case about a mother facing deportation who was given sanctuary by the congregation.

Night Elf Druid clergy

By Anne Robertson

“I’m now a level 13 Night Elf Druid in World of Warcraft,” I announced proudly to the administrative assistant in the office. She gave me a blank stare.

Of course there are any number of reasons for such a look. There’s “Level 13 is not anything to be proud of, you dork,” or “It’s not exactly a new game, you cave troll.”

But if I had to guess, I’d say the reason for the blank stare was “But you’re the executive director of the Massachusetts Bible Society!” Although 9 million people play the online game worldwide, some things don’t mix, like being both United Methodist clergy and a Night Elf Druid.

Blogging toward Sunday

By Stan Wilson
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Sunday, October 14

You better not shop around

Members of our church were studying the Hebrew word shalom one night when someone asked: “Where are the places in our community that seemed to be governed by fear, division, doubt and death?”

“That’s easy,” said another member. “It’s happening in my neighborhood. We’re afraid of the people who are moving here. I tried to get some of my old neighbors to make bread for a new neighbor, and they all refused. There was a day when we made bread for every new neighbor.”

A long and important silence followed because we realized that our members had been among the first to move out of that neighborhood.

Tourists to pilgrims

By Bob Cornwall

I’ve learned a lot by watching the tourists cruise State Street looking for California experiences. I live in a tourist town, so I can spot them quickly. They’re the ones wearing jackets on what Santa Barbarans consider to be shorts weather. They hail from warmer climates and consider our climate a bit too cool.

The presence of tourists in my community may explain why I’m intrigued by Diana Butler Bass’s choice of the tourist image to describe current spiritual landscapes in Christianity for the Rest of Us. Much has been said about seekers, and about the infamous church shopper who’s in tune with the American consumerist mentality and always asks, “What can you do for me?” Like any good shopper, the church shopper looks for the bargain and the most bang for the buck.

Learning from Mother Teresa

By David Heim

“She lived the joy she could not feel.” That’s the profile of Mother Teresa that emerges from recently published private letters (see also the Century editorial "Dark Nights"). They reveal that she felt profoundly cut off from God through most of the years that she pursued her celebrated missionary work among the poorest of the poor.

Blogging toward Sunday

By Stan Wilson
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Sunday, October 7

What kind of friend?

In the year after the tsunami destroyed the Sri Lankan coastline, lawmakers threatened to pass a law making Christian evangelism illegal. The proposed law was popular because of widespread anti-Christian sentiment. The majority of Sri Lankans are Buddhist, and they resented the privilege given to minority Christians under British rule in the past. Also, many were angry about widespread proselytizing on the part of some American missionaries.

At that time, Kingsley Perera was the leader of Baptists in Sri Lanka. Kingsley came to Mississippi to tell members of our church about the work of Baptists in Sri Lanka after the tsunami and ask for help.