Angels Laid Him Away
The murder of Sean Bell remains a tragedy and becomes more so as the killing of un armed black men and women by police becomes epidemic. This song was written by John Hurt with new verses.
Art: What’s On the Drawing Board?
On the drawing board
Books: The Grey World, Evelyn Underhill
I have taken a few running starts at Underhill’s major work on Practical Mysticism, but I have never gotten through it. I was surprised to discover this remarkable thinker was also a novelist. In the Grey World Underhill deals with life from the perspective of the dead, rather than death from the perspective of the […]
Readings: Ada Barnett, The Man on the Other Side
Ada Barnett, The Man on the Other Side It started for me when I read Charles Williams’ Descent Into Hell. It was a compelling and realistic description of the spiritual world and spiritual struggle.. I continued to be drawn to a particular 19th Century genre for which I have many examples and no name. Among […]
Bearing Witness
Bearing WitnessThere has been some comment and concensus among my friends, both black and white, that George Floyd is not a martyr. I agree, there is a sense in which a murder cannot be a martyrdom. Mr. Floyd did not lay down his life. It was taken from him senselessly, unjustly, and horribly. It breaks […]
A King Who Can Cry
Recently I read a comment that Trump may sin, and whether he confesses is between him and God. Aside from the fact that Trump has clearly and publicly stated that he will never regret or apologize for anything he does, it made me wonder whether we who claim to follow Jesus have never considered a […]
A Wall Runs Through Our Town
From the 2020 Pandemic to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the winks and nods from the powers of this present darkness to those who seek to kill and destroy has left too many sisters and brothers vulnerable. It is not time to be silent but to cry out until the walls all come […]
To Thirst and to Cry
“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7 The word “being” in the Hebrew is “nephesh” literally “throat.” A “throat” can thirst and cry. To be a “being” is to be capable of thirsting and […]
Rolled Away Stone And Right-side-up World
There is something about a broken seal, a rolled away stone, courageous women, terrified soldiers, and a risen Lord that speaks to our hearts about truth, vindication and hope the way nothing else has or will. It took a rolled away stone to right this world and and empty tomb to make it new because […]
Death Interrupted
The Angel’s announcement is Heaven meddling in earth’s affairs. We silence the oppressed, honor the strong, and bury the dead. We carry on our tacit agreement with politics, custom, and death itself, but Christ’s resurrection means earth’s charade is as empty as the tomb itself. With three words, business as usual has been shaken to […]