Blessed Examples
The Beatitudes can speak more clearly if we don’t try to think of them as a list of one-size-fits-all obligations.
The Beatitudes can speak more clearly if we don’t try to think of them as a list of one-size-fits-all obligations.
Isaiah, Amos, and Micah agree on this—and so did Jesus.
Jesus was all about change; churches, not so much.
Mellow greetings, Merry Mystics!
I was thinking about Pete Seeger this week—one of my heroes—so I wrote this little protest song.
Anyone want to send me another verse?
A sermon about an early film. “Too political”? You decide.
There’s nothing so beautiful that human beings can’t turn it into a problem. Case in point: baptism.
I wrote a new hymn to go with the Epiphany story in the Gospel of Matthew. It’s about those mysterious visitors from the East, who behave so foolishly in the story. They go to the wrong place (Jerusalem, not Bethlehem); they visit the wrong king (Herod, not Jesus); they ask him a really foolish question (“So, what do you know about the new king—the one who’s going to replace you?”); and when they finally get to the right place, they bring three really inappropriate gifts! How’d they ever get to be called “Wise Men” anyway?
Sheet music for “Not So Wise Are We” is freely available, as always, and you can listen to the hymn here. (I also gave a whole sermon on the subject—in case anyone wants to hear a sermon!)
The “wise men” in Matthew’s story were pretty foolish; they received their epiphany anyway.
Over the centuries, the story of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph seeking refuge in Egypt prompted a wide response in art, music, drama, and literature. Today, it calls us to action.
This story has often been represented in art and music. Historically accurate? Probably not, but it’s full of truth nevertheless.