I’ve been struggling to write again this week. Sunday’s conversation did not go as I expected and I’ve been trying to wrap my arms around why and how I can “fix” it, if that’s even a thing. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good conversation; it was honest and rich and personal. But there was a lot of anxiety. …
Creation Care for Christians: Climate Change
Last week, we were coping with despair in the face of immense problems. This week I made the turn toward anger. The chapter we read in Patricia K. Tull’s Inhabiting Eden focused on the prophet Jeremiah. The background of the scene is that the Babylonians are poised to siege Jerusalem. Jeremiah is going around telling everyone of the danger. He …
Belief and Judgment
Last Sunday’s conversation was wide-ranging, befitting a couple of scripture passages (Ephesians 2.1-10; John 3.14-21) that are rich in meaning. Most of our dialog focused on John as it contains what is probably the most memorized verse of scripture in the Christian faith, 3.16. As I still remember it from my childhood: “For God so loved the world that He …
Sheep and Goats
Our series on the Rapture culminates this Sunday in what is traditionally known as “Christ the King” Sunday. This is not language we typically use at Church in the Cliff. It is hierarchical and patriarchal and we prefer more expansive and inclusive images of God. However, this highlights some of the things we’ve been talking about with Rapture theology. As …
Advent: Lighting the Candle of Hope
Welcome to Advent! The first breath of the new church year is about to be drawn. Once more, we’ve circled around to the season of mystery, into “the close and holy darkness,” as the poet Dylan Thomas put it. Advent is laden with expectation, pregnant with strange good news, and lit by archetypal symbols. I loved this season during my …
Stir Up, We Beseech Thee
When I was semi-serious about marathon running, it was all-consuming. Running up to 70 miles in a week takes a lot of time. But it’s not just the running itself. Running told me what to eat. Running told me when to sleep and how much. Running told me what to do at night. Running organized my life; it was the …
Signs of the Times
Those who know me know I love a good apocalypse. That means this is my favorite time of the liturgical year. As we slide into Advent, the lectionary turns to signs and warnings of the inevitable end. Not really what we have come to expect as retailers have for weeks told us it is Christmas time. As much as we …
Advent Conspiracy: Worship Fully (in which the author takes issue, as is his way)
This year Church in the Cliff is participating in Advent Conspiracy, which seeks to turn Christmas upside down, to remind us of the meaning of God coming into the world. Advent Conspiracy asks us to reconsider the consumerism of the Christmas season, to avoid the stress of malls, the debt of buying things we can’t afford, and the downright silliness …