Archive for May 2018
Baptism, Connection, and Christ
Is interdependency a strength or a weakness? I remember hearing the old adage, “up by my own bootstraps,” as if self-sufficiency were something to be proud of. And as if it were actually possible, too. In this interconnected world it’s hard to even imagine being raised all on one’s own and finding one’s own way,…
Read MoreRecovery, Symbols, and Gratitude
It’s been two-plus weeks now since coming home from hip replacement surgery. Needless to say that’s major surgery. I was hugely grateful that my immensely popular surgeon (whose operations are routinely booked several months in advance) slipped me into a cancellation, after a year of increasing pain. Each day is an improvement in minor but…
Read MoreBilly Graham
On February 21 of this year, the American evangelist Billy Graham passed into heaven, after 99 years of life and more than sixty years of Christian ministry. In that time, he reached more than 210 million people (face-to-face and by satellite feeds) in 185 countries and territories on six continents. Those efforts began in 1947…
Read MoreJohn Wesley’s Creation Theology
The four sources of authority for John Wesley – Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience – have long been an important decision-making guideline for me. As a lifelong camper, I’ve tended to see this “quadrilateral” as the four corners of a tent with the crossbar of Jesus Christ holding them together in the center. Some people’s…
Read MoreLove in a Time of Climate Change
Rev. Sharon Delgado’s Love in a Time of Climate Change: Honoring Creation, Establishing Justice is a “faith response to climate change” (p. 178) that tells the truth about how far down the road we already are in global warming, while simultaneously giving us hope for transformation – IF we have the political will to take…
Read MoreBig Day of Giving 2018
Yesterday was this year’s Big Day of Giving. Begun in 2013, it’s a program of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, to grow philanthropy through a 24-hour online giving challenge that highlights the year-round work of the region’s nonprofit community. Last year, donors gave almost 39,500 donations, worth $7.2 million. Yesterday, givers donated nearly $7.4 million…
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