He has showed you what is good, and what does YHWH require of you?
To DO JUSTICE
LOVE MERCY
WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR God.
So, what does justice look like? It's NOT asleep, unaware or detached; it's NOT guilt ridden.
It IS pulsating with the compassion (and sometimes the anger) of God's loving heart
It IS aware of human capabilities and limitations, and
It IS full of faith and the belief that GOD is capable of doing all this. Sorry, Rabbi Kushner, but God is not weak! Even while using His weak and imperfect servants,
He is able to deliver the poor, lift them up, and establish justice.
AND HE WILL!
Thanks to Garret Smith, whose thoughts I am summarizing here!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
"...To depict man in all his misery is to
Unmask the abyss opened, in the modern world, by God's absence....."
Francois Mauriac 1885-1970
And, sad to say, things haven't gotten better in the last 37 years. So why is this blog entitled joyful REALity? Because God is REAL and is still here! The abyss of which Mauriac speaks is what one sees upon turning away from God.
Still in denial of reality? OK, he's speaking of the abyss you enter with your eyes shut. Is that better?
Still wondering where the joy is? How about this from Desmond Tutu:
"Thinking of God makes me happy" Now you know where that HUGE smile comes from. Or Mother Theresa. OK, according to her recently published diaries nothing made her happy--but she still did the right thing 'til the day she died. And oh, the joy in Heaven!
Unmask the abyss opened, in the modern world, by God's absence....."
Francois Mauriac 1885-1970
And, sad to say, things haven't gotten better in the last 37 years. So why is this blog entitled joyful REALity? Because God is REAL and is still here! The abyss of which Mauriac speaks is what one sees upon turning away from God.
Still in denial of reality? OK, he's speaking of the abyss you enter with your eyes shut. Is that better?
Still wondering where the joy is? How about this from Desmond Tutu:
"Thinking of God makes me happy" Now you know where that HUGE smile comes from. Or Mother Theresa. OK, according to her recently published diaries nothing made her happy--but she still did the right thing 'til the day she died. And oh, the joy in Heaven!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Oh no, not another letter to the Globe
Yup, here it is. I'm also working on a column on something I know very little about, humble astrophysicists. Stay tuned!
Here's the link. Don't blame me for anyone who decides Cornel West should be read outside of the hip-hop media! http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/09/25/fabricated_fears_about_hate_crime_legislation/
To all but the most credulous reader, Cornel West's column defending "thought crime" legislation ought to be anything but comforting. Intentionally, or by inexcusable neglect, West and Sylvia Rhue have dismissed a wide body of literature on gay politics and theology that is anything but hateful. This literature, full of thoughtful criticism, and not shying away from difficult question such as "Well,what if people really are born gay?" comes from a wide variety of traditions, including Judaism, Catholicism,conservative Protestantism (Walter A. Elwell:Evangelical Dictionary of Theology), mainstream Protestantism, (Robert A. J. Gagnon of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Homosexual-Practice-Texts-Hermeneutics/dp/0687022797/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-1496179-4277215?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190846077&sr=8-1 ), and psychotherapists working in secular settings.By baldly and indiscriminately labeling opinions he personally hates as "condemning and dehumanizing"Prof. West signals to lovers of liberty his intent to eventually allow their prosecution as "hate crimes." If not West and his sort, leave it to those the mere thickness of a condom farther left to fabricate a connection between a sermon one day and a fight in a nearby bar the next. For all his faults, Larry Summers' wisdom in allowing Harvard to "lose" CornelWest and his shoddy lack of scholarly inquiry to Princeton has been vindicated.
Here's the link. Don't blame me for anyone who decides Cornel West should be read outside of the hip-hop media! http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/09/25/fabricated_fears_about_hate_crime_legislation/
To all but the most credulous reader, Cornel West's column defending "thought crime" legislation ought to be anything but comforting. Intentionally, or by inexcusable neglect, West and Sylvia Rhue have dismissed a wide body of literature on gay politics and theology that is anything but hateful. This literature, full of thoughtful criticism, and not shying away from difficult question such as "Well,what if people really are born gay?" comes from a wide variety of traditions, including Judaism, Catholicism,conservative Protestantism (Walter A. Elwell:Evangelical Dictionary of Theology), mainstream Protestantism, (Robert A. J. Gagnon of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Homosexual-Practice-Texts-Hermeneutics/dp/0687022797/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-1496179-4277215?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190846077&sr=8-1 ), and psychotherapists working in secular settings.By baldly and indiscriminately labeling opinions he personally hates as "condemning and dehumanizing"Prof. West signals to lovers of liberty his intent to eventually allow their prosecution as "hate crimes." If not West and his sort, leave it to those the mere thickness of a condom farther left to fabricate a connection between a sermon one day and a fight in a nearby bar the next. For all his faults, Larry Summers' wisdom in allowing Harvard to "lose" CornelWest and his shoddy lack of scholarly inquiry to Princeton has been vindicated.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Can't let go of it
Well, one of my favorite "freebie" papers still keeps publishing articles and letters on the torpedoed Marriage Amendment, so I keep writing letters in reply!
Citizen petitions are not mob rule. The Constitutional Convention wasted valuable legislative time because the Governor and legislative leaders refused to allow the Marriage Amendment to come to a vote. They only acted when forced to by the Supreme Judicial Court, and even then they kept delaying the vote until enough arms were twisted to achieve the Governor's favored outcome. Consequently, they allowed public swimming pools to remain unrepaired and unopened during the hottest days of summer, consistent with their general neglect of thornier problems like our bridges. As Wendell Woodman pointed out yesterday, these same legislators are trying to blame their egregious mismanagement of the Big Dig on a glue manufacturer for not demanding to know exactly how a customer was using a small order for a general purpose adhesive. So while I understand how it seems odd to today's letter writer that the legislature is being asked to cut itself out of the amendment process, that may be the only way they can discipline themselves to focus on their real job: serving the voters in practical ways instead of rewarding the Governor's campaign donors.
Citizen petitions are not mob rule. The Constitutional Convention wasted valuable legislative time because the Governor and legislative leaders refused to allow the Marriage Amendment to come to a vote. They only acted when forced to by the Supreme Judicial Court, and even then they kept delaying the vote until enough arms were twisted to achieve the Governor's favored outcome. Consequently, they allowed public swimming pools to remain unrepaired and unopened during the hottest days of summer, consistent with their general neglect of thornier problems like our bridges. As Wendell Woodman pointed out yesterday, these same legislators are trying to blame their egregious mismanagement of the Big Dig on a glue manufacturer for not demanding to know exactly how a customer was using a small order for a general purpose adhesive. So while I understand how it seems odd to today's letter writer that the legislature is being asked to cut itself out of the amendment process, that may be the only way they can discipline themselves to focus on their real job: serving the voters in practical ways instead of rewarding the Governor's campaign donors.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Things I love
Summer!
Music (See post entitled "Kairos v. Chronos)
http://www.ebtrr.com/ A living museum. Yes, you've heard this phrase before, but this is a WWI era shortline preserved in situ for decades.
Which of these posts do you love? Hate? Comments pleezzzzzz!
Music (See post entitled "Kairos v. Chronos)
http://www.ebtrr.com/ A living museum. Yes, you've heard this phrase before, but this is a WWI era shortline preserved in situ for decades.
Which of these posts do you love? Hate? Comments pleezzzzzz!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Sad but true
This week the Boston Globe smugly called for defunding of "abstinence only" sex ed. Maybe they have a tiny point, but here's my response:
Teaching a 14 year old girl how to become "My First Sexual Conquest" for an immature football player is hardly conducive to anyone’s health, mental or otherwise. Yet this is the flagship accomplishment of "scientific" sex education. I’m sure proponents of abstinence are more genuinely disappointed in "abstinence only" programs than activists like Julie F. Kay. But what is $200 million compared to the budget of even one teen movie that teaches boys that to "become a man" is to ask a girl for sex without promising anything—much less lifelong commitment—in return? A few micrometers of latex fail to turn this utterly selfish male act into anything remotely approaching responsible human sexuality. As a wide variety of authors have noted, from Mary Pipher to Wendy Shalit, the real beneficiaries of sexual "freedom" are not girls who give in to pressure, but rather boys who can’t handle the obligation of controlling their sexuality (except with the occasional condom). In fact they, and their enablers such as Ms. Kay, have become slaves to our basest instincts: conquest and domination. And Ms. Kay calls her resignation in the face of this horror "science"?
Refs: for Pipher: http://www.committment.com/ophelia.html
for Wendy Shalit, my hero: http://blogs.modestlyyours.net/modestly_yours/wendy_shalit/index.html
Teaching a 14 year old girl how to become "My First Sexual Conquest" for an immature football player is hardly conducive to anyone’s health, mental or otherwise. Yet this is the flagship accomplishment of "scientific" sex education. I’m sure proponents of abstinence are more genuinely disappointed in "abstinence only" programs than activists like Julie F. Kay. But what is $200 million compared to the budget of even one teen movie that teaches boys that to "become a man" is to ask a girl for sex without promising anything—much less lifelong commitment—in return? A few micrometers of latex fail to turn this utterly selfish male act into anything remotely approaching responsible human sexuality. As a wide variety of authors have noted, from Mary Pipher to Wendy Shalit, the real beneficiaries of sexual "freedom" are not girls who give in to pressure, but rather boys who can’t handle the obligation of controlling their sexuality (except with the occasional condom). In fact they, and their enablers such as Ms. Kay, have become slaves to our basest instincts: conquest and domination. And Ms. Kay calls her resignation in the face of this horror "science"?
Refs: for Pipher: http://www.committment.com/ophelia.html
for Wendy Shalit, my hero: http://blogs.modestlyyours.net/modestly_yours/wendy_shalit/index.html
Sunday, July 8, 2007
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