I have hope that something very special is happening in our world and I would like the Christian tradition to be part of that positive, evolutionary change. But I believe there are things that progressive leaders, progressive teachers and progressive Churches, have to do immediately, if that we are going to have a chance to make it work.

I believe that the current state of traditional western Christianity may be comparable to the state of first century Judaism (as it is depicted in the Gospels). And now, as then, critique, deconstruction, and renovation are needed. Jesus’ continuity and discontinuity within his faith tradition, his deconstruction for the purpose of reconstruction, are paradigmatic for emerging, progressive Christianity.

Renewing the institutional church that has settled for some lesser version of Christianity shaped by our Western/American sense of comfort and security, governed by rewards and punishments, fixated on getting beliefs correct, and oriented around feel-good, self-glorifying, God wants you to be happy and prosperous teaching, is a very difficult and slow process.

Luke’s Jesus seems to be saying, pay attention to how you are listening to the message. Are you receptive (fertile); rocky (rejecting); thorny (resisting); or dry (uninterested)? Because . . . but here the non-sequitur called “to have and have not” throws us off the track. The Jesus Seminar scholars suggest that “Luke presumably wants the reader to know that those who grasp at the initial stages of faith will be given more to understand as they mature” (The Five Gospels p. 307).

♥ Humility does not mean self-abasement, it means recognizing an Infinite power greater than our little self.

The Song of Solomon would never have become sacred scripture if it had not been interpreted as allegory.

The woman with the alabaster jar appears in all four gospels…Who was she really?

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and those who have no money, come, buy and eat!

A Jungian psychoanalyst and former Presbyterian minister offers a perspective on Christianity and the Church from Jungian psychological perspective.

Good morning…I am ___________ of this Community of Love…and on this 4th Sunday of Advent, we welcome you all to this inclusive spiritual community that invites and supports ALL people to know God’s love…and we join together with UNITY churches all around the world to proclaim our commitment…

We welcome you to this inclusive and universal Celebration of Light, on this Winter Solstice—the longest, darkest night of the year.  Since ancient times…this drama around the return of the actual physical light that sustains us…has served as the basis for myth and ritual—symbolizing perennial new life, the birth of Gods, and the center of Hope—throughout human history

By: Chuck Queen,  The “Advent” of God in the person of Jesus not only challenged old ways of thinking about God and old patterns of relating to God, Jesus’ Advent marked the beginning of a spiritual revolution, a conspiracy of love.

Hymn to the tune Finlandia.

The world needs love; so many hearts are hurting.  Lord, work through us, help us to spread your peace, bringing to all – through your forgiving spirit -freedom from guilt, from bitterness release.

Unfortunately, many churches are slow to change and are out of sync with modern times. Often neither the theology nor the music speak to the souls of people of today.

In these quieter moments, may optimism's glow creep in and then pervade our spirits and countenance. May hope, possibility and inward smile (at least) abide side by side with any worries, fears and the rest of our human repertoire and jumble of thoughts and emotions

As my eyes opened this day..and again awakened into a new morning, the thought arose in my mind: ”I am part of all of this”….and I smiled! My heart is most grateful…for every experience lived, I know Love and its living Source. I can walk, run, dance and hop,…I can breathe…I can breathe..not only that! I can smell and detect the exquisite fragrances and scents of flowers…my favorite magical children of the earth…they are children in disguises ..you know?

A prayer for use on patriotic occasions, commemorating both those who have served in the military and those who choose other paths.

Beyond miles and miles of Sonoran and Chihuahuan desertCriss-crossing the Southwest and Northern Mexico,Where local folks know how to stand "tall in the saddle" as they sayAcross a landscape that seems to go nigh on to foreverEven beyond the Boundlessness of you, O' God,Here imaginations may touch the beauty of all creationAnd horizons meet the very edge of eternity.