greed
What greed looks like
The roots of our desire for money, pleasure, and power reach back to the Enlightenment.
A Pennsylvania family destroyed by fracking
Eliza Griswold tells the story of an industry and the people it hurts.
by Win Bassett
Speaking truth to power in Beatriz at Dinner and Fargo
The characters Beatriz and Gloria model resistance against powerful, immoral blowhards.
Wealth to share
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Most of us can identify with that request. It’s only fair: each member should receive their own portion of a family’s wealth when the time comes to divide it.
But Jesus doesn’t seem to care about fairness.
Love made visible
Once you finally get a job, then you need to get a “real” job. Then you can expect to be laid off at least once in your life. Then you have to retool and enter the workforce again. Then even if you get your “dream” job, you might come to the realization that you’re destroying your family and your personal life, and the dream becomes a bit of a nightmare. Then you begin to realign all your goals. Then you begin to look toward retirement, and you begin to imagine what your vocation is going to be when you retire.
Idol behavior: 1 Kings 21; Psalm 5; Luke 7:36–8:3
One of my seminary teachers once said that if you can’t think of anything original to preach, you should tell Bible stories—they have enough power to turn people’s hearts toward God. This may not work with every text, but it certainly works with the drama and wisdom of the story of Naboth and the story of the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with her tears.