Tag Archives: Power
Making Peace Like St. Francis
Franciscan Way: Part Two Making Peace Like St. Francis Friday, October 11, 2019 My Franciscan brother Fr. Louie Vitale, who has been a peace activist for almost 40 years, tells how St. Francis was working for peace even at the end of his life. At the time, Bishop Guido of Assisi excommunicated the mayor of… Continue Reading Making Peace Like St. Francis
Doing the Inner Work
Shadow Work Doing the Inner Work Thursday, September 12, 2019 People often asked Dr. Jung, “Will we make it?” referring to the cataclysm of our time. He always replied, “If enough people will do their inner work.” This soul work is the one thing that will pull us through any emergency. —Robert Johnson [1] Historian… Continue Reading Doing the Inner Work
Gifts of Power
Black Women Mystics Gifts of Power Thursday, August 1, 2019 Rebecca Cox Jackson (1795–1871) was born into a free family in Pennsylvania. After a mystical encounter, she divorced her husband and became an itinerant preacher. She discovered the Shakers and eventually founded the first black Shaker community in Philadelphia. Jackson’s spiritual awakening was catalyzed by… Continue Reading Gifts of Power
A Subtle Peril
Mystic: Howard Thurman A Subtle Peril Wednesday, July 24, 2019 Howard Thurman lovingly critiqued Christianity, which has often ignored the direct teaching and witness of Jesus in relationship with those who are oppressed. This excerpt is from one of Thurman’s most well-known books, Jesus and the Disinherited. I think this message is important today and… Continue Reading A Subtle Peril
The Edge of the Inside
Prophets: Part Two The Edge of the Inside Tuesday, July 9, 2019 Prophets, by their very nature, cannot be at the center of any social structure. Rather, they are “on the edge of the inside.” They cannot be full insiders, but they cannot throw rocks from outside either. A true prophet must be educated inside… Continue Reading The Edge of the Inside
Struggling with Shadow
Prophets: Part One Struggling with Shadow Tuesday, July 2, 2019 The Hebrew prophets are in a category all their own. Within the canonical, sacred Scriptures of other world religions we do not find major texts that are largely critical of that very religion. Prophets can deeply love their tradition and profoundly criticize it at the… Continue Reading Struggling with Shadow
Trinitarian Revolution
Trinity: Part 2 Trinitarian Revolution Friday, May 17, 2019 I think we are in the beginnings of a Trinitarian Revolution. History has so long operated with a static and imperial image of God—as a Supreme Monarch and Critical Spectator living in splendid isolation from what he (and God is exclusively envisioned as male in this… Continue Reading Trinitarian Revolution
The Power of Giving and Receiving
Trinity: Part 1 The Power of Giving and Receiving Wednesday, May 8, 2019 Christians will continually misinterpret and misuse Jesus if we don’t understand the circle dance of mutuality and communion that he participated in from all eternity (which we call “Christ”). Instead, we made Jesus into a monarchical “Christ the King,” a title he… Continue Reading The Power of Giving and Receiving
Practical Christianity
Following Jesus Practical Christianity Thursday, January 24, 2019 When the Christian tradition chose an imperial Christ, living inside the world of static and mythic proclamations, it framed belief and understanding in a very small box. The Christ of the creeds is not tethered to earth—to the real, historical, flesh-and-blood Jesus of Nazareth. Instead, this image… Continue Reading Practical Christianity
A Changing Religion
Early Christianity A Changing Religion Monday, September 3, 2018 Much of what Jesus taught seems to have been followed closely during the first several hundred years after his death and resurrection. As long as Jesus’ followers were on the bottom and the edge of empire, as long as they shared the rejected and betrayed status… Continue Reading A Changing Religion
