…love cannot be defended by analytical arguments; love has its own internal logic….
Ilia Delio
If our interpretation of the Bible does not lead us to love others, including our enemies, then we are not reading it aright. If it does, we are.
The Word Fulfilled: Reading the Bible with Jesus
Thomas Merton wrote, “A man knows when he has found his vocation when he stops thinking about how to live and begins to live.”
God’s Grace
First, God’s grace is superabundant and magnificent and overflowing; second, God’s acts in grace toward us are prior to anything we say or do; third, God always acts in grace; fourth, God’s grace is effective in what it is designed to do; fifth, God’s grace is distributed without consideration of our worth or merit; and, sixth, God’s grace can be non-reciprocal, which means God can show grace even when we refuse to respond. Of course, grace is also inherently reciprocal, that is, God gives and we become agents of giving ourselves
Scot McKnight
Biden’s Pardon
I wish Biden hadn’t pardoned his son, yet I’m secretly glad he did. If he hadn’t, I would have praised him and admired his stance, but also felt sad. I have to live with that nagging and gnawing duality within me, like most of us. That doesn’t mean I won’t support doing one’s duty, even when it has a cost. Even if it saddens me. Hegel understood the torturous anxiety that comes with choosing between two rights. So do we all.
Kareem Adul-Jabbar
Jesus for Everyone
If we do not see the face of the divine in the face of everyone else–even if we don’t believe in a God who looks like us–we should nevertheless be able to see the human face, the face we share, in everyone else. If we cannot, we are lost. … we may never get to ‘love of enemy.’ I’m not there yet, and love of enemy is not on my bucket list. But human decency, that’s attainable. The Bible helps us get there; the Jesus tradition helps us focus.
Amy-Jill Levine
God’s essence
God’s essence is beyond human conception. To peer into God’s very being is to look into an impenetrable darkness. Following Thomas [Aquinas], we can use negations to narrow in on God, sort of like approaching the event horizon of a black hole. Our knowledge is a boundary encircling a mystery rather than the grasping of something definite.
Richard Beck
View from the Lanai (Dance Floor)
View from the lanai is different this year. Hurricane Milton destroyed our screened-in lanai. We now have a very nice dance floor. Although we miss the lanai, the dance floor has been an interesting experience. Sunny for most of the morning and shaded in the afternoon, it is very comfortable. Because it is open, people seem much more inclined to come and sit with us. Weather has been beautiful for the most part. Cool mornings and warm afternoons.
