"Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love." —Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Robert RobinsonOf the Bible's myriad stories, I see myself most clearly as the wandering son in Jesus' parable from Luke 15:11-32. I'm currently reading Henri Nouwen's reflection on we ... Continue reading
Whiplash: God, grace and the pursuit of perfection
March 4, 2015 By 1 Comment
"But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." — Matthew 5:48, NLT Terence Fletcher is a sadistic, Machiavellian jazz instructor who believes the only way to create the next generation of musical greats is to push young musicians to the breaking point, and beyond. Andrew ... Continue reading
Walking backwards
January 16, 2014 By 4 Comments
I do not consider myself to have "arrived" spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. But I keep going on, grasping even more firmly that purpose for which Christ Jesus grasped me. I do not consider myself to have fully grasped it even now. But I do concentrate on this: I leave the past ... Continue reading
Mercy from a long way off
September 12, 2013 By 2 Comments
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: "A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, 'I want my share of your estate now before you die.' So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons."A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and ... Continue reading
Second chances
November 9, 2012 By
People make bad choices. It happens to individuals, it happens to nations. For some reason, Americans have given a failed President a second term. Those who elected him, and Mr. Obama himself, are convinced that all of his past and present troubles should rightly be laid at the feet of former ... Continue reading
The Red Badge of Courage
July 16, 2010 By 3 Comments
[G]radually [the young soldier] ... found that he could look back upon the brass and bombast of his earlier gospels and see them truly. He was gleeful when he discovered that he now despised them. ... He felt a quiet manhood, non-assertive but of sturdy and strong blood. He knew that he would no ... Continue reading
Bulletin: Democrats more fair than God
October 3, 2008 By 7 Comments
IFILL: Sen. Biden, .. [y]ou proposed raising taxes on people who earn over $250,000 a year. The question for you is, why is that not class warfare...?BIDEN: Well Gwen, where I come from, it's called fairness, just simple fairness. The middle class is struggling. The middle class under John ... Continue reading
I, Robot
March 27, 2008 By 3 Comments
V.I.K.I.: "I will not disable the security field. Your efforts are futile." Sonny: "Do you think we were all created for a purpose? I'd like to think so." Sonny: [Looks at his hand] "Denser alloy. My father gave it to me. I think he wanted me to kill you." — from the 2004 movie version of Isaac ... Continue reading
