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Sure, Mothers Day is probably the invention of the florists and the candy makers.

But holidays are a chance for us to share something in common.

And what we have in common is a mother.

For the first nine months of our existence, give or take, our existence was absolutely dependent on the hospitality, the welcome, the willingness of one woman to bear us.

Each of us is, only because of that gift. Absolutely, entirely, completely.

None of us started off alone.

Each one of us, as soon as we had ears to hear, heard our own perhaps, but also another’s heart beating.

Not just beating with us, or near us, but also for us.

Do you think that had an effect on our psyche? On our deepest longings? On our understanding of what LIFE is?

Thanks, mom, for the hint. That our task in life is to understand that life is a gift. And to understand that God’s heart beats with us, near us, and for us.

How do we know what we know? That’s the concern of epistemology. Now, forget the word, epistemology, as I only used it because it starts with an “e” and so fits “it’s the economy, stupid.” But it’s one of those underlying currents behind all the flailing about in the religious and secular and evangelical world these days: how do we know what we know? I got to thinking about it after reading today’s entry in David Crumm’s Read the Spirit. I confess I was tuning in to Read the Spirit this morning because they did an interview with me yesterday as Jesus Brand Spirituality: He Wants His Religion Back is finding its way into the bookstores. David Crumm interviewed Christine Wicker who noted that Southern Baptists are seeing a decline in baptisms, and that the president of the Southern Baptists think it’s due in part to Christians being viewed as “mean spirited.” Wicker also mentioned a Southern Baptist preacher who is now preaching universalism, the view that nobody goes to hell–all, in the end, are saved. It does get your head spinning, these currents. Read the rest of this entry »

Something wonderful is happening, driven by a sense of desperate need.  Secular scientists are recognizing the need to reach out to people of faith, especially people of evangelical faith, in order to bridge the cultural divide that is now hindering our capacity to respond in love and wisdom to the global environmental crisis.  And people of evangelical faith are open.  They are willing to engage people of science.  Because God is a myth busting God, and a God who likes to shake things up.  All this wonderful turbulence and cultural quaking left me sitting in a large meeting room at Ohio State University–excuse me, The Ohio State University–with about 15 scientists, professors of astronomy, environmental science, biology, mostly, and 15 evangelical pastors and leaders.  And I must say, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room with us. Read the rest of this entry »