Rigid Beliefs

Posted on by miknbop

From Center for Action and Contemplation – July 1, 2018

The First Commandment (Exodus 20:2-5) says that we’re not supposed to make any graven images of God or worship them. At first glance, we may think this means only handmade likenesses of God. But it mostly refers to rigid images of God that we hold in our heads. God created human beings in God’s own image, and we’ve returned the compliment, so to speak, by creating God in our image. In the end, we produced what was typically a small, clannish God.

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Need and Greed

Posted on by miknbop

From Center for Action and Contemplation – July 5th, 2018

America’s unhealthy economics and politics persist because we largely operate out of a worldview of scarcity … there is not enough land, healthcare, water, money, and housing for all of us, and there are never enough guns to keep us safe …
As any have said, there is more than enough for our need but never enough for our greed.

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Political Responsibility

Posted on by miknbop

From Center for Action and Contemplation -July 8th, 2018

Go down to the palace of the king and declare, “Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” —Jeremiah 22:1, 3

The Hebrew prophets and Jesus clearly modeled engagement with both faith and the public forum … [but]
Today many believe that “inner work” is the purview of spirituality and that we should leave the “outer world” to politicians, scientists, businesses, and workers. Most of the negative feedback I receive is “Don’t get political!” Yet how can I read the Bible and stay out of politics is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” —Jeremiah 22:1, 3

The Hebrew prophets and Jesus clearly modeled engagement with both faith and the public forum … [but]
Today many believe that “inner work” is the purview of spirituality and that we should leave the “outer world” to politicians, scientists, businesses, and workers. Most of the negative feedback I receive is “Don’t get political!” Yet how can I read the Bible and stay out of politics.

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Radical for Real

Posted on by miknbop

From Center for Contemplation and Action – July 12th, 2018

There is a lot of talk today about “radical” politics on both sides … and so the very word “radical” now has a somewhat negative connotation. “Radical” just comes from the Latin word radix, meaning “root.” For something to be “radical” it should cut to the root of the issue and deal with causes, not just symptoms, which politics rrarely does on either the Left or the Right.

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