Tag Archives: Tradition
Speaking Out
Disciples, Prophets, and Mystics Speaking Out Monday, March 16 Prophets must first be true disciples of their faith. In fact, it is their deep love for their tradition that allows them to criticize it at the same time. This is almost always the hallmark of a prophet. Their deepest motivation is not negative but profoundly… Continue Reading Speaking Out
Moving Forward by Looking Back
Summary: An Evolving Faith Moving Forward by Looking Back Wednesday, January 1, 2020 News Year’s Day It seems appropriate to begin the new year by sharing new visions for the future of Christianity. For our faith to evolve, we need to look at the old and original in order to build something new and novel.… Continue Reading Moving Forward by Looking Back
A Cross-Section of Space-Time
Church: Old and New A Cross-Section of Space-Time Tuesday, October 29, 2019 Choan-Seng Song, a theologian and author, has worked tirelessly to decolonize the image of God and Jesus brought to people in Asia by Western missionaries. His writings are a wonderful example of the global nature of movements emerging in Christianity. Song was born… Continue Reading A Cross-Section of Space-Time
Rummage Sales
Church: Old and New Rummage Sales Sunday, October 27, 2019 I have come to set fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already blazing. —Luke 12:49 People are rightly concerned by the loss of property through fire. However, forestry workers understand that from the destruction caused by fire emerges new growth, new… Continue Reading Rummage Sales
The Self-in-God
Western Christianity The Self-in-God Tuesday, September 18, 2018 In his booklet That We May Be One, Thomas Keating writes about two models of spirituality and how they influence our growth in God’s likeness: Since the Reformation, the Christian Tradition has been somewhat focused on doctrinal differences rather than on the spiritual journey itself and the… Continue Reading The Self-in-God
The Beginnings of the Way
Early Christianity The Beginnings of the Way Sunday, September 2, 2018 If we look closely at the evolution of religion over time, we see that there has been gradual growth toward the goal of union with God. Religions continue to change, “transcending and including,” as Ken Wilber says, learning from old ways and opening to… Continue Reading The Beginnings of the Way
All Things New
From the Bottom Up: Summary All Things New Monday, December 25, 2017 (Christmas) Yearning for a new way will not produce it. Only ending the old way can do that. You cannot hold onto the old, all the while declaring that you want something new. The old will defy the new; The old will deny… Continue Reading All Things New
The Great Emergence
Emerging Church The Great Emergence Sunday, November 26, 2017 I have come to set fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already blazing. —Luke 12:49 Protestants and Catholics recently honored the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In 1517, when Martin Luther posted his “95 Theses” or complaints to the church door in… Continue Reading The Great Emergence
Struggling with Shadow
Prophets Struggling with Shadow Monday, September 11, 2017 The Hebrew prophets are in a category of 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. The Hebrew prophets were free to love their tradition and to profoundly criticize it… Continue Reading Struggling with Shadow
A Third Way
Alternative Orthodoxy A Third Way Sunday, May 28, 2017 The Franciscan Tradition in which I’ve been formed is an “alternative orthodoxy” or heterodoxy. While we are part of the Roman Catholic faith and embrace the great Christian Tradition, we are not mainstream. Francis (c. 1181-1226) and Clare (1194-1253) of Assisi paid attention to and emphasized… Continue Reading A Third Way
