A number of years ago now, I looked at the personality characteristics, shared across human cultures and spiritual traditions, which positive psychologists have identified as critical to human mental health and wellbeing. Of these, one that has always stuck out to me is one they variably labeled ‘awe’ or ‘appreciation of beauty and excellence’ — … Continue reading In the Footsteps of the Ancients
I’m not a huge fan of the theology of Martin Luther, but one thing he absolutely got right was in calling attention to two different postures off faith: what he called the ‘theology of glory’ and the ‘theology of the cross.’ The theology of glory revels in titles for God like “King” and “Lord”, and … Continue reading The God of the Low Places: A Reflection on Luke 14.1,7-14
A recurring topic of conversation with my traveling companion for this trip over the years has been what gives places that special feeling that, if it’s positive, we call ‘holy’ and, if it’s negative, we call ‘haunted’. It’s a feeling of otherness and strangeness in a place or person that is in more formal discourse … Continue reading Encountering the Holy
After a few weeks ‘off’ talking about Jesus’ parables, today we return to regularly scheduled Sunday programming reflecting on the lectionary readings. But today’s Gospel reading acts as a nice bridge, since it connects to the conflicts and themes that instigated Jesus’ parables of grace in Luke 14 and following. It’s a story about the … Continue reading The Spirit of Control Versus the Spirit of Freedom: A Reflection on Luke 13.10-17
Well, our long journey this Summer through the Parables of Jesus has come to an end. Today I’d like to quickly touch on the major themes of the series, and how they are all brought together in the last set of parables recorded in Matthew. We began the series by defining parables and exploring what … Continue reading Kingdom Stories: Concluding Thoughts
Matthew Root 