Salvation and Life through these Bones
Another Week Ends: Kierkegaard, Resurrection Sufferings, Pandemic Deadly Sins, Strategic Inefficiency, Cathartic Humor, and our Groundhog Days
1. Over at Marginalia Thomas Millay reviews what looks to be a fantastic book on Søren Kierkegaard, by Sylvia Walsh. She provocatively contends that Kierkegaard believed humans were incapable of actually becoming virtuous. The virtues, for him, are the means to measure failure. The Christian life is not the progressive accumulation of successes, but continual […]
The Body and the Coffin
This one comes to us from Kurt Armstrong. A few years ago I built a coffin for my father-in-law Walter. I made it with oak plywood, the oak a nice veneer, the plywood strong and stable so it wouldn’t warp or twist or cup. I built it, stained it, and varnished it, and I kept […]
If Christ Be Not Raised
This one comes to us from Kenneth Tanner. On Holy Saturday, The New York Times published an interview with the president of Union Theological Seminary in which she mentioned a Christian “obsession” with the physicality of our Lord’s resurrection. Count me among the obsessed. There are many witnesses in the New Testament, but John’s testimony […]
Hopelessly Devoted: The Conviction of Things Not Seen (Hebrews Chapter Eleven Verse One)
This morning’s devotion was written by David Zahl for The Mockingbird Devotional. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1, NASB) When you look at your career, your marriage, your health—do you spend more time thinking about what you don’t have than what you do? Even […]
Death and Resurrection: UVA Basketball on Embracing Failure
“If you didn’t believe in resurrection before those last two UVA basketball games, then you must now.” This is how Marilu Thomas started her sermon at Christ Church Charlottesville the Sunday before the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final. And then in the third game, the Hoos rose again. I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but last […]
“Present Risenness” – A Few Quotes from Brennan Manning
Insights on the Resurrection from Brennan Manning’s Abba’s Child. Standing on a London street corner, G. K. Chesterton was approached by a newspaper reporter. “Sir, I understand that you recently became a Christian. May I ask you one question?” “Certainly,” replied Chesterton. “If the risen Christ suddenly appeared at this very moment and stood behind […]
The Easter Effect, Dolly Parton, and a Specific Kind of Jesus
Happy Easter! By now, the ham leftovers should be about finished, the bonnets returned to their boxes, and the elusive eggs left unfound on Sunday are easily discovered by following the faint smell of sulfur. Clergy are just about recovered from the multiple services of Holy Week. And for those of us from liturgical traditions, […]
What to Wear at Easter: A Sermon on the Resurrection
This sermon was delivered yesterday by Paul Walker, Rector at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville. Happy Easter, everyone! Welcome to Easter Day at Christ Church! Whether you are here every week or just once a year, Easter is THE day to come to church. The news we have to tell just doesn’t get any better […]
