Across Church Street
Building Beyond
Who trusts institutions? All of us have been formed (and deformed) by them. Institutions are not just inanimate structures that disappoint us. They are the collective efforts of people over time, often generations. Good ones stay rooted in the past and adapt for the future. A culture with strong institutions can do more creative work because its citizens don't sweat routine things. When disciples withdraw from institutions, we commission foolish and malevolent people to determine how we will live. A great way to love the world and our grandkids is to bend our institutions toward the ways of God's kingdom.
Meet Your Maker
I don't think that means what you think it means.
Prepare to meet your Maker. Why is this used as a death threat, rather than an invitation to life? I can prepare to meet my Maker every time I read Scripture, take Communion, or take in the Arts. I can prepare to meet him when I walk in the glory of his creation or when I talk with a friend. When I visit the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner. I can prepare to meet him when I pray. I can prepare to meet him every day!
Faster. Sooner.
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. — Attributed to Theodore Parker
Well, it's a very long arc, isn't it? God is good, and everything he created was good and very good. But like the jet stream, every kink in this 'arc' causes storms to fire. Right now, God is about the work of rectification, and so should we be. But the Father doesn't intend for us to bump along, groping for justice clues. He gave the Law, then Jesus and his Royal Law, to show us the way. For love's sake, we can get there faster and sooner.
- love
- Holy Spirit
- humility
- church
- poverty & mercy
- politics & society
- mission & witness
- holiness
- parable & metaphor
- identity
- eternal life
- doubt & deconstruction
- leadership
- grace
- justice
- scripture
- spiritual life
- advent & christmas
- imagination & creativity
- technology & AI
- knowing God
- human dignity
- faith & trust
- incarnation & cross
- kingdom of God
- community
- reconciliation
- spiritual formation
- epistemology
- prayer
- gratitude
- culture
- creation & nature
- discipleship
I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.