As I mentioned last week, a surprising number of the books I’ve read in the past year or so that deal with spiritual themes do so while also exploring themes of gender and sexuality. In that post, I explored that trend through the idea of the arena, at how these issues that are so controversial … Continue reading Wisdom IN Literature: All the World Beside on Flexibility and Faith
One of the most compelling, if challenging, teachings from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is the Beatitude that says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5.9). It’s compelling because it’s a clear New Testament example of God’s desire for peace. It’s challenging, because it’s hard, awkward, and often … Continue reading Wisdom IN Literature: Glorious Exploits and the Galaxy and the Ground Within on Peacemaking
[Note: Today I’ll be reflecting on the Psalm of the day. If you’d prefer a reflection on the Epistle and Gospel of the day, feel free to check out my post from 2021 on these texts.] A couple of years ago, I was introduced to the term VUCA. It was developed decades ago by the … Continue reading Unshakable: A Reflection on Psalm 125
Several of the books I’m bringing to this series this year involve queer themes. This isn’t because of any particular agenda, but because these books often by their very nature deal with faith in a serious way. For these authors or characters, Christianity is not a comfortable old slipper that fits easily on the soul, … Continue reading Wisdom IN Literature: Enlightenment on Wrestling with God and Love
In some ways this series on the first eleven chapters of Genesis had its origin in a very bad sermon I was subjected to over twenty years ago, in which the preacher basically told the congregation that we’d all be better off ignoring Genesis 1-11 because God doesn’t become recognizable as the God of the … Continue reading Of Beginnings and Endings: Genesis 11.10-32 and concluding thoughts on Genesis 1-11
Matthew Root 