I had long silently harboured a deep foundational belief that what the Church taught about forgiveness was wrong. My experiences of it being used by various Christian people, as well as the Church, against me to guilt me, reinforced it.

The one thing that enraged most people about Jesus of Nazareth was that he had the gall to tell people that their sins were
forgiven when clearly there were systems of civic and religious power that were set up to make sure people got what they deserved.

When, if ever, is anger appropriate? If we want to be good actors in the world, and become the peace we’d like to see in the world, can we allow anger to exist? How do we know when anger is ok and how much anger is ok?

Wading out of a hard time is awful. But it’s really all we can do. There is no panacea. No miracle fix. No post-it note on the side of a monitor—“take time to notice what is right”—will instantly un-funk a funk.

Don’t try so hard.

Be ok being a bit disappointing.

With the powerful voice of a woman, pastor, mother, and advocate, Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt gives us the compassionate nudge and tools we need to access our inner authority.

Jesus was, however, not the first person to challenge the lex talionis (law of retaliation) – the belief that if you are harmed it is OK to follow your gut and harm the person who harmed you.

Are you searching for a way to connect children with an authentic spiritual experience that is inter-spiritual, creative and multi-layered?  “A Joyful Path” is truly progressive Christian curriculum that is inclusive, joy-full, compassionate, and intelligent.

This passionate love story is set in the picturesque village of Valle Crucis in the North Carolina mountains. Within the warm embrace of Abby Dunbar and among his many friends in the Valle Crucis community, the Reverend Jeffrey Peterson heals the scars from a failed ministry and psychological trauma.

Love can be a tricky business because it’s not a feeling – not really. We may have desire or longing or other feelings that we equate to love, but I believe love, or loving someone, while certainly is inherent, is largely something we have to learn, like a skill.

Do you also tell yourself that you don’t have the right to be upset when you are upset? What if, instead, we trained ourselves on compassionate self-talk?

Amanda Gorman mesmerized a nation with her inauguration poem “The Hill We Climb.” The beauty of her presence and the power of her words captured a country battle-scarred and looking for a lifeline.

The words of Amanda Gorman, Poet Laureate, from her moving poem during the inauguration of Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris as President and Vice-President of the United States of America.

How did wearing a mask to avoid spreading the Covid virus become a politically partisan issue? It has become apparent that one of the most difficult tasks ahead of the USA is learning again how to disagree without dividing the nation.

I recite the Lord’s Prayer daily, and often the most challenging phrase for me is the second part of “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Though I’ve received everything I have from a generous and gracious God, it’s hard to let go of grudges and wrongs and the feeling that others owe me something or that somehow I have unfairly missed out.

This expansive, like-hearted community transcends race, orientation, gender, religious tradition, political affiliation, and nation of origin—and finds its affinity in the deeper place of our shared humanity, which is the True North of his writing. This collection lovingly pulls together some of John’s most widely-read and most beloved essays on faith, politics, grief, and the elemental parts of being human.

Larry says that good people never think they are doing enough. Maybe you don’t have to be brilliant today, either.

Let us use our moral imaginations to try to give Jesus the benefit of the doubt (just as we should do with each other in our daily lives). We all know that there are those who are poor and suffering who still side with the wealthy and healthy rather than with their own people. It is ironic, but we see such things common even in our own time.