. . . From the Talking Pew

Hi Folks,

I've been wrestling lately with this Wrestling With the Bible project.

I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts about the weekly scripture and the words of all those amazing biblical figures: St. Paul, Jesus, the Psalmists, Isaiah, Ma… Read full post »

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

As I made plans for my mother’s memorial mass at the tiny St. Vincent Catholic Church in Pentwater, Michigan, last summer, I asked my brothers and my mother’s grandchildren if they’d like to participate in the service.

 

Pentwater, Michigan… Read full post »

... From The Talking Pew

A very touching story on Patheos by author Jana Riess about how Facebook helped her grieve.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/emergentvillage/2012/03/facebook-is-helping-me-grieve/

Apparently, FB has a policy of shutting down a FB account if it hears that the owner has died -… Read full post »

 

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

By the looks of next Sunday's scripture readings, God has high hopes and standards for the human race.

There are the Ten Commandments, of course. Our lives – spiritual and earthbound – will go a lot better if we love God heartily, banish our idols… Read full post »

  

. . . From The Talking Pew

What does it mean to take up one’s cross and follow Jesus? What does it mean to imitate Abram who said yes when God Almighty asked him to leave home and family and “walk before me, and be blameless”?

Are… Read full post »

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

God is a lot like my son Peter.

When Peter was four or five years old, he spent an afternoon with a little friend who was developmentally disabled. Peter was ready to play that afternoon. That is… Read full post »

The eleven disciples behold the risen Jesus on a mountaintop in Galiliee. He was dead and now he is alive – standing right before their eyes.

Some had the presence of mind to worship Jesus. Others doubted.

Doubted.

I can only conclude that this perennial doubt of ours… Read full post »

 NASA photo

 . . . From The Talking Pew

  I like to think of God as nice.

Nice as in helping out with some extra wine at a wedding when the host’s supply runs out. Nice as in “Suffer little children . . . to come unto me.”… Read full post »

. . . From the Talking Pew

Accepting a gift isn’t easy for me, whether the gift be one of love, friendship or healing. For me, pride gets in the way.

Like the King of Israel and the mighty warrior Naaman, I often find myself keeping friends, spouses, children,… Read full post »

 . . . From The Talking Pew

For most of my adult life I wasn’t so sure about God. That such a thing could exist seemed far-fetched, too good to be true.

 

But now that I’m firmly located in the second half of my life – okay, okay, the third… Read full post »

 

My son at 5. He made it to adulthood -- a miracle?

  . . . From The Talking Pew

Does (can?) God do miracles? I wonder. Mostly I kind of doubt it. I’ve never witnessed a miracle personally, though I’ve asked for enough of them, large and… Read full post »

 

    . . . From The Talking Pew 

St. Paul can be pretty annoying.

Last week he was fixated on how sexual relations with prostitutes taint the body. (1 Corinthians 6:12-20) I can get behind that. My body is holy, a gift from God to be… Read full post »

 

From the Himalayas, Manjushri, the Buddhist bodhisattva of transcendent wisdom, but also of lingistics and grammar. He's supposed to strike down ignorance and duality with his flaming sword, but I see him as making distinctions -- decisions -- with it.

 . . . From The Talking Pew… Read full post »

 

. . . From The Talking Pew

I have an atheist friend who loves (yes, he uses the word love) the complexity he sees in the universe, on Earth and, for that matter, in his own physical and emotional self. My athiest friend sees, for example, the complexity of DNA at… Read full post »

 

. . . From The Talking Pew

Traditional Christians, Jews, Muslims — and maybe even a Buddhist or two – they’re discovering the joy of sex, with a little help on line from sex toy manufacturers.

Read all about it on The Daily Beast. Read full post »

 

From The Talking Pew . . . 

A great commotion has just occurred. A handful of poor shepherds has witnessed choirs of angels and the glory of the Lord. What’s more, a Savior has been born.

The shepherds don’t keep this a secret. They tell… Read full post »

 

From the Talking Pew...

According to the Christmas story as told by Luke, Caesar Augustus believes himself to be a powerful man. And maybe he is. He has ordered that the “entire world” be registered and taxed, and he’s got the armies of soldiers and legions of tax coll… Read full post »

 

“Go and tell my servant David: ‘Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?’” – 2 Samuel 7:5

“Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’” – Luke… Read full post »

 

Mt. Tamalpais Trail, Marin County, CA

By The Talking Pew

I'll be walking, walking, walking with a friend on a high ridge tomorrow. Not getting in shape for anything. Just the pleasure of walking and doing a lot of talking as is my wont, which is why they call me… Read full post »

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

“And people . . . were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins."   -- Mark 1:5

Sin.

There’s that word again. According to my copy of Strong’s concordance, the word sin appears in the Bible something like four hundred times.

 

There’… Read full post »

 “O, that you would tear open the heavens and come down . . . ”

My sentiments exactly. Why doesn’t God break out of God’s hiddenness and silence once in a while and explain a few things?

 

 

Like why are we here? Why do we have to… Read full post »

That the last Sunday of the liturgical year celebrates the Feast of Christ the King tells me that, when all is said and done, we Christians believe Jesus Christ reigns over all that is.

 

And that would include the Jews, Muslims and Buddhists who live alongside us.… Read full post »

God is a mystery to me; I can’t know what God is like, really.

But I can examine my beliefs and assumptions about God and notice how they affect my big, risky life decisions.

 Jesus tells the story of a master who generously gives three slaves money – talents – to invest.
…

Read full post »