“If we don’t measure things or look at the calendar, we have a tendency to let things slide and say, ‘Tomorrow is soon enough,’ or, ‘Eternity is soon enough.’ It’s not. It’s not. We’ve got work to do in this life.”
The appearance of the commemoration of Vida Dutton Scudder on our calendar today may occasion the recent memory of Francis of Assisi, who appeared on the calendar last Monday. Scudder had a few thoughts of her own on the important work of the Franciscans.
“An out-of-control trolley—or train—is hurtling towards five people on the track, who face certain death. You are nearby and, by turning a switch, could send the trolley onto a spur and save their lives. But one man is chained to the spur and would be killed if the trolley is diverted. Should you flick the switch?”
Ever since the heavy doses of disappointment and anger over process in last summer’s Jeffrey John debacle, our keyboard fingers get itchy every time an announcement is made about an opening for a bishop’s spot in the CoE. So forgive this small indulgence.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is is thinking about the court-ordered aspects of religion.
What better time than the Sunday before Columbus Day to bring attention to the Doctrine of Discovery – the concept that colonial powers own the land they find despite who’s been there already for thousands of years.
Xavier Le Pichon’s primary work has been in the area of Plate Tectonics. A French scientist, he is very well known in geological circles for his comprehensive mode of plate tectonics. He’s won numerous awards for his scientific research. And he lives in an intentional community that cares for the mentally ill because of his faith. In an interview recently he talks about the experience of his deep spirituality combined with his sense of scientific insight into the big questions of the Universe.
This week’s Saturday Collection features innovative outreach fundraising, a congregation that discovered that it has an architectural treasure, another one celebrating an important milestone and a congregation in California that has invested enough in green energy technology that its energy systems are going to be a source of income for the congregation.
Colin Johnson, Archbishop of the Diocese of Toronto decided to try living on the sorts of food found in the typical Toronto food bank both as a spiritual exercise and as a way of understanding better what it was like to live off the sorts of resources available to a family who have no where else to turn.
Church budgets are a bit different than the typical business’ budget and people highly skilled in business may not always be aware of the differences. And clergy and lay professionals who have worked in the church their whole careers may not be aware of the differences either.