The Christian community in the first three centuries after the death of Jesus was a seething pool of rancorous and raucous discussions, flagrantly varying sects, and multiple incompatible opinions as to exactly who Jesus was and exactly what he stood for. Was he a human who had shown us the way toward a Godly life?… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Editorial
Jesus Mistakes
For most people, this is starting out all wrong. The prevailing opinion amongst Christians is that Jesus was the most perfect human who has walked upon the face of this earth. To begin any discussion saying that Jesus made mistakes is to challenge one of the most cherished beliefs of Christians. For them, he was… Continue Reading
Prayer
“Tell it to the Lord in prayer.” “Pray that it may be so.” “We are praying for his or her recovery.” “Our prayers have been answered.” “I am praying that they will (or will not) choose me.” “Pray tell, what do you think of this?” “Prayer can move mountains.” “Say your evening prayers.” “On bended… Continue Reading
The Epiphany
The accounts of what happened after Jesus’ death are certainly disparate. There is no accounting that is the same. Matthew relates that Mary and the other Mary go to the tomb site on Monday morning. There is an earthquake, an angel appears, and the tomb keepers faint dead away. The angel rolls the stone away,… Continue Reading
Revelations
That sudden moment of understanding. How precious it is. We describe it in various ways. ‘I suddenly understood.” “He had an epiphany.” “It was a revelation to me.” “The elevator finally went to the top.” “The light dawned.” “Finally all the pieces fit together.” “I never realized that until now.” “You mean to tell me… Continue Reading
Going to Mars
How we love this out of the world stuff. There are few things more exciting than thinking that we can escape our earthy bonds. That’s the ultimate adventure. Just to think of being up there somewhere among the stars, somewhere near heaven, makes us excited. Spirit and Opportunity are now on the surface of Mars,… Continue Reading
The Bell Shaped Curve
We sure don’t pay enough attention to it. Talk about something that is everywhere that we look, think or study, and affects all of our decisions and understanding, yet we don’t want to think about it. We not only don’t want to think about it; we frequently don’t even want to acknowledge that it exists.… Continue Reading
Intuition
We call it by various names. Some say it is our “sixth sense.” Others say it is the communications-like extra-sensory perception that we just haven’t yet discovered, but sometimes use when we have heightened senses. Others call it “the wisdom of the ages.” Some say it is our “instincts.” Many will say it is… Continue Reading
The Pacifist’s Dilemna
Pacifists recognize that war is deeply destructive of human society. We take our best genetic products at the most vigorous times of their lives, and send them off to be killers in a distant land. Those that return come home with loss of limbs, loss of eyesight, loss of hearing, carrying deeply painful scars. Those… Continue Reading
The Soldier’s Dilemna
War seems simple enough. We are wronged by someone, or one of our friends is unjustly attacked, so we retaliate. We have to teach that brash enemy a lesson. We can’t just let someone attack us and not reply. If we do not reply, we will soon find that everyone else is walking all over… Continue Reading