Unpacking Ideas

While we are repelled by the idea that an undocumented immigrant might “get away with something” if we grant amnesty, we are complacent if not comfortable when one of “our own” is blessed with forgivness. Is anyone in Mississippi confused about this?

The problem, as we have seen from the beginning, is that being set apart — even for good reasons — slowly morphs into exclusion, meaning what began as a distinction later becomes a fence or wall.

Are we prophetic? This, of course, is the right question, but the much harder question, which is why I avoid it.

I wonder if our zealous pursuit of numeric growth is the exact opposite of what Jesus had in mind. Maybe, if we told the truth about the Gospel our congregations would become smaller. I won’t comment about our religious leaders, except to ask: How might a bunch of self-protected white guys behave with such a challenge?

The Church’s response today to our Muslim neighbors, and to all of our neighbors who are different from us, must be formed – and corrected if necessary — by the example set by Jesus of the Gospels. We welcome them, we love them, we serve them.

It appears Alabama is no longer a safe place for immigrants to live and work. They are leaving Alabama. Who can blame them? It appears Alabama is not a safe place for me, unless I am willing to ignore the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke’s Gospel.

With apologies to Thomas Merton, I borrow and distort the title of his influential book. This is a confessional article.  Which is not to say my confession matters much.  Regarding confessions, I recall Niebuhr’s cautionary words from his 1928 essay The Confession Of A Tired Radical: This is the confession of a tired radical.  I hope I will not remain tired.  [...]

Indulge me. I declare this to be the unofficial BE KIND TO A UNITED METHODIST PASTOR week. Or, at least, be kind to me and my family. Changes. We have turned, and we are facing the strain.

I do not begrudge Paul Ryan his views about the role of government, or his right to privately pursue self-interested gains. I do wonder, though, if his appetite for the pursuit of self-interest is a contradiction of his oath to support the “general welfare” of the United States? Voters in Wisconsin might want to consider this.

As if not knowing how the parade ends, the people along that roadway were lifted “on a tide of hope and joy.” And so Coffin asks, “knowing what we know today, can we still join the parade?”