When I ponder this data, what comes to mind for me is how I’ve seen many people over the years in churches that have experienced a difficulty in the shared life of the congregation and are not particularly happy, but hang in there and stick it out.
[T]he Covenant has no mechanism for improving relationships, and only explicit threats for diminishing them, in the text itself. It is full of good intentions towards “commitment to one another as churches” but when it comes to brass tacks it is all about the management of difficulties through the imposition of “relational consequences.”
It is too early to predict the covenant’s defeat, but perhaps not too early to begin wondering what will become of the document if, in fact, it is defeated in the Church of England. Will that stop the adoption process in the wider Communion in its tracks, or will the Church of England have to endure the “second tier” status once predicted for the Episcopal Church?
My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Dreams in the Bible were serious business, considered messages from God (or their god) or revelations of truth that needed attention.
How should Christians read the Bible? The answer to that deceptively simple question may help to identify differences between the norm and how Christians actually read, or recommend reading, the Bible.
The desert is the home of despair. And despair, now, is everywhere. Let us not think that our interior solitude consists in the acceptance of defeat. We cannot escape anything by consenting tacitly to be defeated. Despair is an abyss without bottom. Do not think to close it by consenting to it and trying to forget you have consented. ~Merton
The idea that every single thing going on around me, matters, was a new concept. I’ve always felt so much of what I did in my life didn’t matter much at all. Who cares what I ate for breakfast? What does it matter to you if I get five hours of sleep or seven?
Occupy LSX was refused permission to appeal against a High Court decision to allow eviction at the Court of Appeal last week. The camp, which has received international support, has been in place since 15 October 2011.
Okay, this is bad, but not as bad as the time a Supreme Court reporter I was playing against made me do Webster v. Reproductive Health Services of the state of Missouri.