Category: The Theological

  • John Woolman is Dead

    Opening Prayer (from the bulletin?) “John Woolman is dead.” These words may at first appear to be simply an obvious  statement, uninteresting and useless. For some, it may be meaningless.Who is John Woolman, anyways? For others, to say that the 17th century Quaker abolitionist is dead understates the obvious in a similar way to someone…

  • Lady Wisdom, Feminine Divine and Proverbs 8

    Last week we discussed Proverbs 8, here are some of my thoughts on the passage. Let’s be honest here, the (divine feminine) language in this passage can be little shocking to American Christianity, which is so often dominated by men. Who is wisdom? Well, whoever she is, she’s a woman. I read this as saying…

  • Reenforcing Totalitarian Power Through Masculine Language

    I came across this quote today while working on my sermon for Sunday: “We have tended to use particular power models for God that image divine power as like that of a monarchical ruler, or a military general who crushes all who oppose him. The model of power assumed here is one of competitive power:…

  • The Spirit Skips, God Dances

    During worship at Multnomah Meeting on Sunday I kept thinking about the fact that it was Pentecost Sunday and reflecting on the Holy Spirit. One thought, given the context of worship, was that although there were many language represented in Acts 2, the Spirit was the one language all could understand. God’s gift to us…

  • The Cross of Repentance: Thoughts on Forgiveness and Confession

    For the Third Month of the 2010 Friends’ Calendar this quote sits above the dates: The life of the cross is a life of the cross of repentance…Most of those who inform us today that they “do not believe in sin” are really saying that they cannot believe in forgiveness. If we cannot accept God’s…