It's Reformation Sunday this week in Protestant circles, which for us
Lutherans means we're into the season of questioning the benefit of the
thing. One particularly well-stated article was posted by Clint Schnekloth at LivingLutheran.com:
I shared today in church a few of parables from Matthew 13: mustard
seed, yeast, treasure, pearl. I tried to just tell them as stories: very
little editorial commentary or explanation, just the stories.
I have never liked hospitals. Hospitals
can so often seem to be places where we attempt to sequester the pain
and confusion and despair that are a part of so many lives—to keep them
out of sight and out of mind.
Years ago a friend who had served very
effectively in a United Methodist Church moved to another city to join
the staff of a nondenominational megachurch. He is gifted in youth
ministry and music and became a worship leader in the new setting. When
I was there for a meeting later I joined them for worship on a
Wednesday night.
One of my more conservative friends posted this picture on his
Facebook page recently, shared under the headline, “It’s funny, because
it’s true.” I get it. Ironic, right? Maybe so. Yes, the captions make a point,
but it’s not one I find compelling.
My ears perked up when I heard that Atul Gawande--my favorite surgeon/writer--has a piece in the New Yorker about coaching for professionals. You can read the whole thing online here.
Two supporters of Occupy Atlanta
showed up at my church last Sunday. Now, I should say--they didn't come
to worship. They showed up just as I was locking the doors to go home,
slightly before two.
When
you enter the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham—one of Alabama's
great institutions—you are welcomed by Fred Shuttlesworth. You will be
welcomed to this shrine of the Civil Rights Movement by a preacher.
In 1992 political strategist James Carville coined the catchphrase that
won Bill Clinton the presidency: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Clinton
made good on his word to address the deficit and high unemployment and
through both skill and luck presided over unprecedented economic growth and prosperity.
