Ponderings on a Faith Journey

The Pope has returned home to the Vatican City after taking America by storm. He said and did enough to step on most of our toes and perhaps inspire us with his infectious personality (and deep humility). There have been many responses, both positive and critical, but in this piece Martin Marty asks not how he was received, but the consequences in the aftermath. He reminds us that when it comes to religious leaders it is not the power of their personality that ultimately proves consequential. It is the communities formed and transformed. He notes that John Paul II was embraced in his visit to the US for World Youth Day in 1993, but while warmly received, his visit did little to stem the tide of decline. So, what will be the impact long term?  With that question is raised another question -- where is spirituality without community?
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After the Pope's Visit
By MARTIN E. MARTY   SEPT 28, 2015Pope Francis, Washington D.C., Sept. 24, 2015                 Credit: Ant…

Mark 10:2-16 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
2 Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,[a]8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” 13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he mig…

A HOME UNITED:Strategies for Couples with Different Beliefs (A Participatory Study Guide).By Robert R. LaRochelle. Gonzalez, FL: Energion Publications, 2015. Viii + 71.
                Once upon a time in America, when young people began to look for a mate, they looked to their own kind. That is, they chose to marry within their faith community. A Methodist might marry a Presbyterian, but it would prove scandalous for a Catholic and a Presbyterian to marry.  The couple might be joined in deep passionate love, but their families likely wouldn’t approve. Conversion to one or the other would likely be demanded, making the other family left out. Yes, it’s better to marry within the faith.  That was then, and this is now. We’re not as religiously ghettoized as we once were. Muslims, Christians (Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, Orthodox), Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, each with their own varieties are found together.  Unless, that is families choose to educate their children in religious homog…

Mark 9:38-50


It seems as if scandals are breaking out all around us. It’s true that scandal sells, so the media will share the news. You can’t blame them. If inquiring minds want to know, then they will give them what they want.  
Speaking of scandals, here in Michigan we got a front row seat as one of the more seedy political scandals unfolded right before our eyes. It’s rare that a legislature gets so embarrassed that it decides to kick out two of its own, but when these two state representatives not only had an affair while in office, but tried to cover it up using tax payer money, you can understand why action had to be taken. What made this scandal even more noteworthy is that these two legislators ran on a “family values” platform. So, the real scandal was their hypocrisy.
But, if the news hour doesn’t provide you with enough scandalous news, there are other options, including a highly regarded TV show simply titled Scandal.  I’ve not watched it, but I understand that it’s about po…

How to Read the Bible, by Harvey CoxSep 24, 2015 reviewed by Robert Cornwall

Harvey Cox, professor of divinity at Harvard Divinity School and a well-traveled interpreter of things secular and spiritual, provides a word of guidance to those who wish to find in the Bible spiritual meaning for today. Cox made his name in the 1960s with his book The Secular City, but in a more recent book, The Future of Faith, he suggests that we have entered the “age of the Spirit,” and he considers the Bible to be an important resource for this age. However, for the Bible to belong not only to the church or the academy but also to the growing number of people who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, a guidebook is needed. This he provides in How to Read the Bible. Though Cox recognizes the need to take into consideration what biblical writings meant to the authors and the original audience, what is most important to him is what the text means today. So, for example, it doesn’t matter that Pa…

Yesterday Pope Francis spoke to a joint session of Congress, and in doing so he addressed the America people. He did so not as a politician (though he is a head of state), but as a pastor. As a pastor he speaks with a different voice, though he addresses serious political issues. In the course of his speech he addressed such issues as climate change, economics, immigration, war and peace, the death penalty, the family.  In making his case he focused on the issues that he has been focusing on -- especially the issues of poverty and climate. He addressed the serious challenges being posed by world conflicts and embraced his role as bridge builder (Cuba-USA?). Those who see the world from a political perspective will try to place him on a left/right axis, but to do so will not prove successful. 

THE BIBLE'S YES TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, New Edition with Study Guide: An Evangelical's Change of Heart. By Mark Achtemeier.  Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press, 2014.  Xv + 137 pages.

NOTE:  Arriving on my doorstep this morning was a new edition of biblical scholar Mark Achtemeier's engaging and helpful argument that the Bible affirms same-sex marriage. With the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage even more churches, mine included, are wrestling with the issue. The new edition doesn't include new text, but provides an extensive study guide for use in groups.  There is a helpful word to leaders that gives guidelines for the study, including the reminder that "any discussion of issues related to sexuality will stir up a range of emotions and opinions in a group. Perhaps this is because our sexual identity is inextricably bound up in our identity as human beings" (p. 135).  I am sharing the review I wrote for the original edition, so that you …