[part two of Original Sin] Should you have had the misfortune of attending worship in Northampton, Massachusetts in the summer of 1741, the sermon by Rev. Jonathan Edwards would have hit you like a ton of bricks. The title alone would have scared the holy hell out of any hearer: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. You might be dismissive of such a far fetched idea, thinking it from so far back in olden times that it lacks gravitas today. But if you look and listen, that same God seems to be alive and well and easily angered […]
Original Sin
It’s a subject that’s always been dear to my heart and confounding to my mind. Lawrence Raab, the New England poet about my age says it so well I’d like to dive into this ubiquitous subject with his words: That was one idea my motheralways disliked. She preferred her godto be reasonable, like Emerson or Thoreauwithout their stranger moments.Even the Old Testament God’ssudden angers and twisted waysof getting what he wanted she’d acceptas metaphors. But original sinwas different. Plus no one agreedabout whether it was personal, meaningall Adam’s fault, or else some kindof temporary absence of […]
Assisted Living
Wikipedia defines it as “extra-care housing or retirement living which allows residents over 55 or 60 to live independently…with staff on hand 24 hours a day to provide personal care. Assisted living exemplifies the shift from ‘care as service’ to ‘care as business’ in the broader health care arena predicted more than three decades ago.” Right after my birth, I entered the assisted living home operated by my parents. They fed me and changed my diapers. They healed my illnesses and provided clean sheets and towels. Lots of free advice. When I was three, Mama’s father came to live with us […]
For Pity’s Sake
It’s a very fragile word in the English language and can fall from the fence of meaning in two directions. There is a trite and trivial use of the word “pity”, or there is the extremely noble quality of human compassion. Like its Latin root, pietas, or piety, it can cut both ways. We can mean by piety that a person is syrupy sweet, or we can understand that a person’s authenticity is deeply rooted in a faith that illuminates the darkness with a greater source of meaning. I recently heard a group of people describing a little get-together as […]