Tag Faith Voices

It is hard in these times to resist the cultural impulse to find someone to blame. Yet, if blame was in any way a useful tool, we would surely be on the road to recovery.

I have long loved Ash Wednesday. It is a particular and peculiar Christian ritual, as far as I can tell. It is traditionally a time of repentance, fasting and abstaining from activities and foods that might separate us from God.

Poet Amanda Gorman stated that she wrote this poem after the massacre in Uvalde, Texas. This poem reminds me that we are in this together.

"Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them."

Might we have the discipline to utilize the gifts of our traditions to transcend the downward trend, bringing hope and inviting healing to those around us as we care for ourselves and care for the world.

"God bless our contradictions, those parts of us which seem out of character."

We are being accosted at every turn with hate speech, antisemitism, unconscionable acts against innocent people and people in power doing nothing. Where do we find hope during a season when many of our faith traditions speak of hope?

“For though my faith is not yours and your faith is not mine, if we each are free to light our own flame..."

“The church is not called to become a community of psychiatrists; it is called to become a community of persistent, patient love."

At times these days we can feel helpless and frustrated because of our state of perpetual crisis. We can see it as a time of transition or a time of transformation.