When I was around seven-years-old, I began praying every night for a baby sister whom I promised God would be named Hope Ann McDonnell with initials that would give her the nickname of HAM. Although I have no idea where I got that name and she never arrived, I realized as an adult that I stayed stuck in hope with no actualization.
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Life must be something more than dilettante speculation. And religion (ought to be if it isn’t) a great deal more than mere gratification of the instinct for worship linked with the straight-teaching of irreproachable credos. Religion must be life made true; and life is action, growth, development—begun now and ending never. And a life made true cannot confine itself—it must reach out and twine around every pulsing interest within reach of its uplifting tendrils.
The Society of St. John the Evangelist, based in Cambridge MA, are sharing their Lenten program not only with those able to visit the Monastery
Pastors of Latino congregations are talking about how they can most effectively advocate for comprehensive immigration reform now that a new administration is in power in Washington.
It’s pretty commonly known that voices from the Religious Right have a strong lobbying presence in Washington DC and in many state capitals. But there’s a small, growing group of voices from the Mainline denominations and the liberal churches too.
As people are pouring over the new proposed federal budget, they’re noticing a few unexpected items being included. One of those is a cap to write-offs for charitable donations for donors reporting income in excess of a quarter million dollars per year.
The Obama’s search for a new church home for their family has opened up a conversation in some quarters about the American phenomenon of “church shopping”. Every pastor and priest says they deplore it, but most of them do what they feel they need to do in response to it. It’s been a part of the American religious experience for generations.
Anglicans in the Middle East consecrate the first church named for the Mary in the Diocese of Jerusalem, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and in the region.
We can attribute this to three components of Lincoln’s character that came into high relief during the blood and fire of the Civil War. First: his wit. Second: his patience. Third: his flexibility. Within the boundaries of his core principles, Lincoln had no trouble ceding points he regarded as secondary – and he regarded a very broad range of issues as “secondary”. He allowed no “litmus tests” to find their way into his small repertory of primary concerns and principles.