We have been through an unprecedented and, frankly, horrifying time in our nation’s history. We have seen mobs of pro-Trump rioters storm the Capitol (at Trump’s instigation), cause the work of the Congress to grind to a halt, bring about injury and death to fellow Americans, the calling up of the National Guard, the second […]
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The Band-Aid Approach: The Inadequacy of Charitable Giving for Tackling Social Problems
The United States consistently ranks among the most “generous” countries in the world – we citizens routinely rank very high in the categories of helping someone we don’t know, donating money to charity, or volunteering our time to an organization. A Marketwatch article from December 2019 cites results from the World Giving Index, an instrument […]
The Legend of Abgar and Jesus, Part II: The Philippian Correspondence
In Part I, we presented an overview of the legendary correspondence between King Abgar of Edessa and Jesus, noting its popularity and how it was preserved in both literary and archaeological sources. Here we will look specifically at the archaeological sample found at Philippi in northern Greece. As we have noted elsewhere, Philippi is important […]
The Legend of Abgar and Jesus, Part I: Introduction
Sometime in antiquity, a story developed that King Abgar V of Edessa, a Syrian city located in Mesopotamia, became ill, perhaps with leprosy, and wrote to Jesus of Nazareth to ask for a cure. In the correspondence, Abgar invited Jesus to come to Edessa to escape persecution. Jesus, according to the legend, replied in writing, […]
Thanksgiving Takeaways: Honoring Traditions and Educating Ourselves with New Data and Insights
We in the United States have experienced one of the most unique Thanksgiving seasons ever. We are in the midst of a long, tragic pandemic, we have just come through most of our election season (!), and we have seen a reawakening of racial justice activism. What, in this challenging age, can we Americans preserve […]
Now We Get to Work!
It’s Friday the 13th, but for many of us, that feels like a very positive date on the calendar! Despite what Donald Trump and his supporters might say and wish, they have been defeated at the polls, and it is time for him to prepare to move out of the White House (the People’s House). […]
Reincarnation and Karma: Valuable Concepts for Religion Professionals (and the Rest of Us)
In the New (Christian) Testament parable of the wheat and the weeds, which we explored a few years ago, we noted that the doctrine of reincarnation and its cognate, karma (the law of cause and effect), appear to have been perniciously eradicated from Christian belief and dogma, leaving Christianity and thus the West, from at […]
Index to the Fifth Year
Thank you for your interest in these blog posts! Here is a listing by topic for posts since October 2019. (Some topics overlap.) Social and Racial Justice, Diversity Giving Thanks for Our Native American Neighbors – Nov. 22, 2019 The House Financial Services Committee: A Report Card for 2019 – Dec. 27, 2019 Trump and […]
The Inspiring Hymns of the Rev. Dr. Carl Daw
We sing a lot in the Episcopal Church! It’s not that members of other Protestant denominations don’t sing (they certainly do), but our liturgies – depending on the individual congregation, priest, and music director – are routinely peppered not only with hymns but also chants, responses and intoned prayers. We sing many beautiful hymns – […]
Highlighting Three Black Men of Renown
One of my fellow parishioners in southern Vermont, Imogene Drakes, PhD, has introduced us, through our monthly newsletter and an article in our local newspaper, to several African American men who, she says, “are not household names — and they should be.” Let us pick up on Dr. Drakes’ introductions and offer some short biographical […]