About the Author: James Burklo

Rev. Jim Burklo is the Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at the University of Southern California. An ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ, he is the author of seven published books on progressive Christianity, his latest book is "Tenderly Calling: An Invitation to the Way of Jesus "(St Johann Press, 2021). His weekly blog, “Musings”, has a global readership. He serves on the board of ProgressiveChristiansUniting.org and is an honorary advisor and frequent content contributor for ProgressiveChristianity.org.
  • By Published On: May 5, 2022

    A group of religious extremists - namely, the majority of members of the Supreme Court - are going to nullify a 50-year old legal precedent in order to reach their long-time goal of taking away a fundamental and sacred human right: the right of a woman to choose to terminate pregnancy. 

  • By Published On: April 5, 2022

    The practice of contemplating the Stations of the Cross, depicting the final hours of Jesus’ life, is a very old one. Many Catholic churches have gardens or sanctuaries in which the stations are situated.  Each of the 14 stations marks a point along the way to Jesus’ death.

  • By Published On: March 29, 2022

    Do you love who you are becoming?  Are you enjoying the giddy delight of tumbling down the flume?  Because in your delight in becoming, the Knower within you will transform your relationship to time, and usher you into the eternal now - the kin-dom of heaven on earth - where there is nothing to grasp, and everything to love...

  • By Published On: January 21, 2022

    It ends with this sentence:  “Even on the days when I’m not sure I can believe it wholeheartedly, this is the story I’m willing to be wrong about.” And that humility suffuses the whole book. 

  • By Published On: December 6, 2021

    Souljourning empowers parents, children, and communities to nurture the natural spirituality of people aged 0-21. Souljourning offers resources, publications, events, and consultation for parents and groups.

  • By Published On: November 23, 2021

    Is there purpose driving evolution?" In other words, it would seem that a theology of God and evolution demands human responsibility to see that plan through to fruition.

  • By Published On: September 28, 2021

    When will we ever learn? It is time to get serious about studying current events and the history that has led up to them. So that we don't make the mistakes we made in Afghanistan - and Iraq and Central America and Vietnam - ever again.

  • By Published On: September 14, 2021

    What brings us closer together around the communion table of divine love? What drives us apart? But or And, Against or Through, For or With?

  • By Published On: September 2, 2021

    What would happen if other faithful people began to ask questions instead of arguing with answers they don’t like?  What would happen if we followed St. Paul’s advice and stopped returning evil for evil?  What would happen if we asked serious questions instead of behaving defensively in response to religious or political bombast?

  • By Published On: August 20, 2021

    Fundamentalist leaders used to describe progressive Christians as a shrinking heretical sect, if they noticed us at all.  Now they condemn us as an existential threat to the survival of evangelicalism.  Their rhetoric should inspire in us a healthy vigilance, as America drifts into deeper polarization and ominous threats of violence. 

  • By Published On: August 17, 2021

    How can we stop the hate and bring the far right & left together to find the middle we can walk together and work for the USA’s survival?

  • By Published On: August 12, 2021

      Not long ago, I "mused" about my new friend at USC, Shane Cole - whom I refer to affectionately as a "digital Mennonite".  He's

  • By Published On: July 21, 2021

    We are all Americans – of all ethnicities, cultures, and political persuasions.  We won’t allow ourselves to be divided.  We stand up, speak out, and we vote for preserving our democracy through free and fair elections to express the will of our majority, so that we can secure liberty and justice for all.

  • By Published On: July 18, 2021

    Wisdom not much different than what St Benedict, a founder of Christian monasticism, observed about the contemplative life:  “Always we begin again.” Or what the 20th century Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, wrote about prayer:  “We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners.”  

  • By Published On: July 10, 2021

    Simply put, love is attention.  It is not complicated to pay attention to your thoughts, emotions, sensations, and urges.  It is not rocket science to stop, sit, and listen to another person who needs your time and focus. 

  • By Published On: June 10, 2021

    What is sacrificed at the altar of transactional relationships?  Vulnerability.  You don’t want folks to see the twists and turns of your life that might un-burnish your reputation.  But without vulnerability, there’s no real friendship. 

  • By Published On: June 2, 2021

    Jim Burklo attunes the reader to Jesus' voice in "Tenderly Calling". It is an invitation for those starting the path of Jesus, as well as for those setting out afresh. He invites the reader into the depths of the Bible's transformative myth and poetry, into the practices of Christian contemplation, and into action, building the kingdom of heaven and earth.

  • By Published On: May 11, 2021

    The St Thomas Collective provides a safe community for Biola students/alumni who find themselves doubting, frustrated, and spiritually homeless.

  • By Published On: May 7, 2021

    These three words sum up progressive Christian theology. They represent a turning point in the evolution of human understanding of Ultimate Reality.  The Bible starts with Superman-In-The-Sky and ends with agape – unconditional love - as the identity of the Divine.

  • By Published On: March 25, 2021

    Jesus may have been humble. But in the last couple of months, I’ve learned a thing or two about donkeys. And I can say this: Jesus wasn’t humble because he rode into town on a donkey. A donkey is as noble an animal as any horse.

  • By Published On: March 11, 2021

    I want to be a Christian and I want to show my daughter who God is and can be, but I’m at a loss. Do I stay where I am or do I join a less Christian church? Either way I will feel like an outsider.

  • By Published On: March 5, 2021

    There are many questions that mainstream science can't answer, at least at the moment.  Ethical and moral questions, such as: who should get the Covid vaccine first?  And how can such a prioritization be made understandable and acceptable to the public?

  • By Published On: February 18, 2021

    Let us feast on simple pleasures, and fast from all that gets our bodies and souls out of balance.

  • By Published On: February 12, 2021

    PSALMS - interpreted by Jim Burklo. Use freely with attribution