politics

More Light. Less Heat

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On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before a quarter million people and delivered what has been hailed as the greatest speech ever given in the English language. Toward the end of his speech, Mahalia Jackson, the internationally acclaimed Gospel singer, shouted, “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” That’s when Dr. King departed from his prepared remarks and riffed on The Dream. That’s the part of the speech most of us remember. And how could we forget so powerful a vision as the one Dr. King cast that day? But … Read more…

Housebroken Jesus

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Do not fear getting older, for with age comes many advantages. Senior discounts on McDonald’s extremely hot and delicious coffee, for one. The freedom to filter less of what you say or write for another. And perspective. You can look back across the decades and see with greater clarity personal, historic and culturally important events and trends to which you were oblivious in the moment. Take the ‘70’s, for example. Judging from the music we listened to on the radio – no streaming back in those days – Jesus was really popular. Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit in the Sky, the rock … Read more…

Leadership Requires Character

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Reflections on 1 & 2 Samuel In the opening monologue of the Bible’s most cynical book, Solomon writes, What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new?” (Ecclesiastes. 1:9 – 10). It’s a withering take on the world but I don’t think I can argue with it. Even our trust in technology is as old as that time in Genesis when the people living on the plain in Shinar discovered a revolutionary new building material. … Read more…