We finished our liturgy with more songs accompanied by organ, trumpet and choir, led and blessed by a mitred archbishop with crozier. Meanwhile, someone walked out the back door to a cold winter street, which accepted him without order, form or seemliness: a man with a slouch, a limp and a list.
Cathy Smith’s farewell column.
The primary values that should shape a Christian public engagement with migration are “welcoming embrace and justice” rather than “economic interests and cultural integrity”.
And all of this is good because we live in a universe that far exceeds our dimensions, and it is big enough and lasts long enough to give evidence of God’s plan to gather in all the treasures he has generously distributed through the ages.
The amount of information in general available to us is increasing rapidly. A 2011 article in Science suggested that globally stored information grows at 28 percent per year. The news channels on television tell us nightly about a new horror in some area of the globe. The number of new music groups formed each year is such that I cannot keep up with all the wonderful, creative new jazz being produced each year.
Is God male or female? A few columns ago, I used the feminine pronoun “she” in referring to God. Several people have contacted the Editor wondering whether that was a misprint and, in other cases, expressed disappointment and even shock about such usage.
Introducing new columnist, Katie Munnik
A cardinal perches on the evergreen just outside the door. He taps the sidelight window curiously, and cranes his neck as if to look into the house. I smile. It’s another reminder – I can face every new day, even a whole new year, without doubts, fear or regrets, because this is my Father’s world and he’s here.
My October 10 column (“How can Christian universities flourish?”) generated letters of response from two emeritus presidents of Reformed colleges. One of the ideas debated was the phrase “hospitably Reformed.” This is a powerful phrase but it seems to mean different things to different people. What does it mean to be “hospitably Reformed”?
I have long been fascinated by Brazil, the fifth-largest country in the world, now boasting a population of over 200 million. In October of last year I finally realized my dream of visiting this amazing country, and it far exceeded my expectations.
Puns and parodies might get some laughs, but Christ’s humble, miraculous birth is already timeless and universal. It doesn’t need to be made more relevant or relatable.
How about you? What would it be like if you were to follow Jesus, politically, at the most local level, in 2017?
|
Uploaded
Failed
|
 |
