Writing blogs is a dangerous pastime. The trouble with writing something short is that one never gets to say all that there is to say on any subject. Instead the blogger must rest content with hinting at the fullest possible picture, while packing as much rhetorical punch as possible into a few short lines. The possibility of misspeaking or being misunderstood proves all too real. I am certain I will not succeed uniformly, but…
In hauntingly beautiful words, the psalmist declares, “One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.” (Psalm 62:11-12a, NIV) There is much to meditate on in these short verses. What does it mean if God is strong and loving? What rest can we find in the sweet promise of these words? If God is strong and loving, we have no…
One of the great problems with modern society is its insistence on our rights. Hardly a single major issue—moral, social, economic, political—does not center on the question of rights. The right to state-sponsored university education. The right to marry whom one pleases. The right to life—or its nemesis, the right to choose. The right to a minimum wage. The right to self-fulfillment. I have wondered recently if the world wouldn’t be a better place…
It was the stuff of literature, the dramatic juxtaposition of striking contrasts. I spent the morning at a ministry for children in one of the worst barrios in Bogotá. These children face horrors beyond what most of us would dare to dream exist in the world. All live in unimaginable squalor. They have little or no prospect for education or advancement. Many are the children of drug dealers and addicts. Others are the children…