In our contemporary world, we are told that fact equals truth. But, if you will forgive me, this is a fairly recent assumption that comes to us from the Enlightenment and the development of the scientific method. For the vast majority of human history, truth was not communicated as fact.
It was communicated as metaphor.
Sermons
Creative Uncertainty
Religion, for me, has very little to do with certainty. When I say that I believe in God I am not claiming to be certain about anything accept of the existence of great mystery. Christianity is not a prescription that will solve all of life’s problems. If you want a prescription, go to your doctor.
Infinite Hazard
Forget going for a dip during a tsunami
Or hang gliding during a tornado.
Those things are trivial compared to this.
Thin Places
How would you react if a robust young man of about thirty years of age spoke to you “quite openly” about his on death?
You might say: “Don’t talk like that!”
We Wait, God Waits
I would argue that it is my job to address moral concerns, and that, in this, my job overlaps with the work of a politician. The difference is, that a politician addresses moral issues through policy and lawmaking. I address morality by interpreting scripture, and trying, in this way, to discern where God’s love leads us.
Returning to the Marketplace (with Bliss Bestowing Hands)
[The] transfiguration from human truth to ultimate truth is not the final goal of the religious practice… The spiritual story may involve a movement to solitude, but it does not end there.
Authority: Human and Divine
“Authority and power are not the same,” Hugh told me. “Power is seized but authority is granted. Power is wielded but authority is exercised.”
The Backyard, Midwinter
The snow had started up again, but not in earnest — these flurries were the storm’s last, half-hearted, whispered asides — the tail end of a mid-January snowfall that was heading northward into the hills. And there I stood, my intention thwarted, with nothing to do but look around.