Faith, Grace, and Hope

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.  How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! ...    With [the tongue] we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.    From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.    Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water?  - James 3:5, 9-11 It burned... the thing I wanted to say. I could feel the words in my mouth and in my throat. They were explosive. I wanted to say them sharply so they would hurt, wound. I felt hurt and wounded and I wanted to do it back.  I screwed up my lips, grimacing.  How could I not say these words? It was actually fairly important in this small, intimate meeting to control what I was saying, to be attentive to my emotions, and to let kindness and honesty reign over my impulsive reptilian brain....

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith… 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. James 2:14-18, 26             I just realized today that I haven’t posted a single thing to my blog since Easter. For some of you that doesn’t mean anything and for others, you’re screaming, “I know!” Though, in most weeks, I write sermons, litanies, commentaries, and (sometimes) book reviews, my blog rem...

Many moons and what feels like a lifetime ago, I started a series of reflections on what I consider to be the 50 most essential Bible passages. (You can read the first one here and look for others in the blog archive.) That seemed like it wouldn't be that difficult. In fact, when I began I thought I would fill out the 50 long before I ran out of passages, but that hasn't been the case. Each time I think of the project, I become overwhelmed with the passages I think are important, some I like and some I don't. Then I just don't write because I want my end result to be perfect . Nevertheless, I think this is an important project for me and I need to get back onto the horse and ride boldly into the terrain of commenting on my own canon . We all have books and passages we prefer to others. We owe it to ourselves to yield to the prodding of the Holy Spirit to examine those selections that we treasure, those we loathe and those we fear. Having said this, I'm going to...