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Joel J. Miller
But we’re not meant to look at our failings without also looking to the cross. I heard a presentation by Fr. Tom Hopko on the Lord’s Prayer in which he mentioned three reasons why it’s good for us to remember our sins. The first goes right to this point: We remember our sins to more fully appreciate the grace of God.
When we speak of the word of God we are ultimately speaking of more than mere text anyway. We are speaking of Jesus, “the image [i.e., the icon] of the invisible God” (Col 1.15). People have not only seen God, but we will also one day see him again. In the meantime, we remember his earthly ministry and eternal rule by reflecting upon scripture, singing hymns, and beholding images of Christ and the saints who called him Lord and friend.
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God chooses to use means, and he’s given the angels an intercessory role in our lives. He is no less involved for their greater involvement. Angels are simply part of the many gracious and providential ways God is present in our lives.
Not only are we looking backward when we commemorate feasts like the Annunciation, so were the apostles and early Christians who preserved the tradition of Mary at the well. They experienced the same layering effect we do because they remembered and wrote from this side of the Resurrection too. They could only see the Annunciation and Nativity by looking through Easter. Mary standing near the well is already Mary sitting by the manger, weeping at the cross, and rejoicing over an empty tomb.
When faced with joylessness and frustration, we should be quicker to fault ourselves than our circumstances. The apostle Paul talks about being content in all situations, whether in riches or poverty. That’s the mark of someone who is comfortable sailing in whatever boat God assigns.
There may be millions in the middle who don’t want to take sides, who don’t want to wrestle with the morality of ending human life. They can keep chanting the mantra, but it rings less true today than ever before.
Our imaginations lead us astray. We fabricate a thousand stories and then live in function of our fantasies, tormenting ourselves in the process. When we do this, we show ingratitude for the moment (because we’re obsessed with the future or some alternate reality, not the present reality we possess by God’s grace) and a lack of trust in God (because ultimately, the future is in his hands, not our heads).
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Buckley said the Christian view “tends to inform Christians,” but often it does not. Literature is made by more than authors. It takes readers and what they bring to the work. Interpretation is integral to the process. If a Christian doesn’t read as a Christian, they’re setting themselves up for problems.
"You can’t divorce Jesus from the Church and keep the New Testament because the New Testament becomes a mess of self-contradiction if it doesn’t pertain to a religion that has an institutional expression."
We live and worship God in community because we can’t see enough of Him on our own. Christians who isolate themselves from the body, whatever its defects and deficiencies, are consigning themselves to a peculiarly distorted and limited view of God: their own.
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When we demonize religion and hold up relationship as the answer, we forget that there are plenty of terrible relationships. Good dogma provides ground to build a good relationship. A deep and enriching relationship with my wife comes from knowing her as she is, not imagining her according to my fancy.
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If you’re one of the cynics, realize you’ve won a trophy roughly as valuable as a participation award for having lunch. If you’re a Christian, extend what grace you can, remembering that we’re all in the same boat and will have need of that very same grace in another minute or two.
We have capped the well and now find ourselves parched. But we shouldn’t be surprised.
What child is this?” asks the famous nineteenth century Christmas carol. It’s a question posed since Christ first entered human history two thousand years ago and one that sometimes provokes vitriolic and even violent answers today.
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I suppose if you don’t believe in that hope, you’re free to jeer at those that do. Good for you. But many in San Bernardino do believe in that hope. I do. And we’re going to keep praying regardless of how pundits bay and bark.
Some people make Christianity primarily an intellectual thing, others an experiential matter. The stories of Andrew and Philip show us that both are valid—never one to the exclusion of the other.
"The Christian’s trinitarian understanding of God allows for relational back-and-forth, whereas Islam’s monadic God cannot be questioned. Punnett quotes one scholar who says Muslims see the angry prayers of the Bible as proof of its 'inferiority' and 'corruption.' And so they jail hundreds for what David said as a matter of course and Christians repeat in their daily prayers."
For all of its private aspects, religion is a public affair. Whether a person considers himself a cultural warrior or just a humble and faithful adherent, there are always social implications to belief.
If you want to understand how people justify their behavior, look at the language they use. The less emotional the words, the easier it is to rationalize the actions.
There’s nothing scientific about the survey, but it does seem significant that the most highlighted passage in the most highlighted book addresses worry, doubt, and disquiet. The problem is that these verses don’t fully address the problem.
