The Apostle Paul that is. He writes a third of what we call the New Testament. I feel sorry for him. He was an activist Benjamite Jew, a Pharisee who hated Jesus and the people following him. He got permission to imprison and kill the scum. Then he has this crazy experience and becomes an […]
I struggle being religious. Maybe I never grew up. Maybe being a youngest child messed with my need to be disciplined and responsible. My older siblings are shaking their heads yes about now. 🙂 In general, people were kind to me. I grew up with good people around me. I’m sure there were a few bad […]
Many years ago my mother-in-law and I were having a conversation that has impacted me to this day. I don’t remember the details, but I have never forgotten her saying, “Ben, there’s as much bondage in having to be right as any other bondage”.
Life is complex and overwhelms us. Answers for living are rarely simple. Black, white, good, bad, right or wrong, seldom describe solutions for living well. Gray is normal in the complexity of living with seven billion people on this planet we all call home. Wisdom, it seems to me, would best be described as living […]
The problem with perfection is that we never reach it. That’s universally accepted, and even the most arrogant would not claim its accomplishment. The word perfection need not go away, but must be removed as the baseline for human achievement. It begs comparison and causes constant competition in realms of delusion about our individual value. […]
There’s a great old allegory that crosses the religious and cultural boundaries of the East and West. Some details vary, but the message is identical. There are two rooms, one representing Hell and the other Heaven. Everything in the rooms is identical. There are tables, sumptuously covered with delectable food, with people seated around the […]
When demonizing marks dialogue, you can know that change is imminent. We are desperately trying to hold on to outdated and inadequate answers to questions of culture, and as yet don’t see the need for new perspective. We build straw men of issues that are no longer relevant and shout louder because our sermonizing is falling on ears that […]
