Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days I will pour out my spirit. (Joel 2.28-29) These words uttered by the prophet … Continue reading Embodying Values in Visions and Dreams
There’s an old saying that goes, “As long as there are exams, there will be prayer in public schools.” And another, “There are no atheists in the trenches.” While I don’t necessarily agree with the conclusions of these sayings, their shared premise does have a point. We tend to look for God, not out of … Continue reading Whose Faith?: A Reflection on Habakkuk 1.1-4, 2.1-4
As this series looking for common ground upon which Christians in the West might begin to approach a better, healthier, and mutually-respectful relationship with the Indigenous peoples upon whose traditional lands we live approaches its end, we’ve shifted from looking at values to some of the those those values are learned, lived, and shared. The … Continue reading Embodying Values in Ceremony
As I mentioned at the end of the most recent post in this series on searching for common ground between the spiritual values promoted by Indigenous cultures and the Christian tradition, today’s post will shift the focus away from values themselves to the mechanisms through which those tools are embodied. Specifically, today I’d like to … Continue reading Embodying Values in Story
Self-righteousness is a funny form of sin: It is pretty much universally loathed, yet also pervasive, and it is among the easiest sins for us to spot in others, yet one of the hardest to spot in ourselves. This very problem, however, says something important about what self-righteousness actually is: an inversion of repentance so … Continue reading The Pharisee and the Tax Collector: A Reflection on Luke 18.9-14
Matthew Root 