Blogs

One of the goals of the Massachusetts Bible Society, which I lead, is to make sure that a variety of Christian voices get heard and that the Bible is not co-opted for political agendas.  With the intense media focus on the Republican primary and the craziness that is Congress these days, the airwaves are full of just one voice--the far right extreme. 

For those outside the religious sphere who shun Christianity because they believe such extreme expressions represent the views of all Christians--or even the majority of Christians, something needs to be said:  They don't.  It's just that extremism, by its very nature, is loud and demands that its adherents to anything possible to achieve its ends. 
 

The question asked what one word described my expectations of Christmas.  I had no answer.  Oh, there were times when I would have had plenty.  As a child I had all sorts of expectations from very specific presents under the tree to relatives coming for dinner to getting to stay up very, very late to go to church on Christmas Eve.
 

Later I came to expect busy-ness, parties, oodles of volunteer hours at church, expense, and decorating rituals.  Once I entered parish ministry I expected beauty and awe followed by exhaustion and generally a funeral or two. To my dismay, I learned not to expect the church to be full when Christmas fell on a Sunday.
 

But, seeing that question posed this week suddenly made me think that I really had no business expecting anything of Christmas. That sounded as if Christmas were all about me and what gifts, material or otherwise, I might receive.  As Mike Slaughter likes to say, "Christmas is not your birthday.  It's Jesus' birthday."

Jacob wresting with the angel - Delacroix

There are lots of passages in the Bible that they didn't tell us about in Sunday School.  For that matter, there are a lot of texts that they DID tell us about that seem problematic when faced with the broader views of adult understanding and experience.
 

Because of the violent, exclusionary, or otherwise difficult texts that people encounter in the Bible, many decide that the Bible or even all of faith itself, is not for them.  "I can't worship a God who does that," is an oft-heard refrain.
 

But suppose there were other things at play in those difficult words?  Suppose a different interpretation could open up the problem passages in a new light?  Maybe we could have our faith and our values, too.  Or maybe our view of God, Jesus or even the Bible itself needs to shift.

Joshua 1:9  “I hereby command you:  Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Halloween seems to give a lot of Christians fits, but the holiday has always been a part of my life.  Probably this has a lot to do with my brother, Rob, who has been creating haunted houses for neighborhood kids since his teenage years. 

A long-time friend of mine wrote on my Facebook page, "Somewhere in New York it says, 'Give me your tired, your poor.'  Well people are tired and people are poor. What are we to tell them?"

Sacrifice of Jepthah's Daughter

"It is a snare for one to say rashly, 'It is holy,' and begin to reflect only after making a vow." Proverbs 20:25

As businesses, economists, and foreign governments look on with disbelief, the political talk in Washington has somehow become all about vows.  Suddenly there seem to be all these vows that politicians are being asked to sign, from vows about opposing same-sex marriage to vows to avoid tax increases no matter what.

"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."  Mark 2:27
 

Like millions of others in America this week, I watched the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial being handed down.  Like just a handful of others, however, I was not surprised at her acquittal.  Yes, I think she's guilty of killing her young daughter and I would bet most every juror thinks so, too.  But I have realized for some time now that, with just a few exceptions, we no longer have a justice system.  We have a legal system.
 

In case you hadn't heard, Osama bin Laden is, like Old Marley, dead as a doornail.  Probably Donald Trump wants to see his long-form death certificate to believe it, but it's true.  The world's most-wanted terrorist is no more, and the airwaves have been filled with responses.