![]() What does it mean to care? The word care traces its origin in the word chara, which means “to lament, to grieve, to participate in suffering, to share in pain.” With that in mind, to care is to cry out with those who are sick, confused, lonely, isolated, and forgotten.
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![]() In this next week, two commemorations take place that should remind us, once again, that among the many sins and evils of our age, racism is still far from dead. The violence, hatred, and inhumanity wrought by racism don’t need to be detailed or debated, though there are still people who claim that racism is a fiction or a thing of the past. They are woefully wrong. ![]() There have been a few times in my life that I have received a compliment by mistake. Good job on this or that when I didn’t have anything to do with why that thing was good. I often don’t know what to do with those types of compliments. Most of the time, I graciously accept because I don’t want to be the cause of an awkward moment. ![]() People tend to self-divide into two major categories in my experience: Givers and Takers. No one is totally one or the other, but it seems to me there is a predisposition to one or the other in each of us. Givers default to a posture of seeking to benefit the “other.” Takers lean the other direction, most often concerned with what benefits them. ![]() As a congregation named “Holy Trinity,” we are familiar with the trinitarian name of the One God – “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” That does not necessarily mean that we understand the three persons of the One God, who exists in a union of Divine Love. It is often the Holy Spirit who is overlooked and misunderstood most – at least in our tradition of Christianity. Yet, it is the Spirit’s work that is most obvious in our daily living. The Work of the Spirit is often the most concrete manifestation of God right now, right here.
![]() Secularization is a big word used to describe a long-term trend in our culture. It refers to the simple fact that all sense of the Holy has been drained out of our existence. When everything and everyone becomes an object useful only for my enjoyment or my purchase, nothing is sacred or holy anymore. The only subject that matters is me because everything is about me. There is nothing bigger than me, beyond what I can consume or enjoy. Life becomes watered down to a simple hedonism – “Eat. Drink. Be merry (not happy or joyous). For tomorrow we die.” ![]() I was speaking with someone the other day about being in a hurry even when we aren’t going anywhere. We get up in the morning and we hurry to make a pot of coffee or a favorite cup of tea. We must get to our prayer and devotional time. We hurry from that to then making a list of things to get done around the house. I act like everything must happen now. |
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