For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
During the Gold Rush in California, untold numbers of Native Americans were forced off their land or murdered. In 1851-52, the US government signed 18 treaties with the indigenous people of California, which essentially allowed the government to take all of the land except for the reservations, which served as homelands for the indigenous people.... Continue Reading →
The very fact that we think of our relationship with God in terms of a covenant is proof that the god we worship is a man-made construct. I realise that this is somewhat of an inflammatory statement, but bear with me: this thought has a ‘good news’ ending. It was Mark Rowlands’ The Philosopher... Continue Reading →
It was the kind of thing that was bound to get them crawling out of the woodwork. There is a certain type of Christian that just cannot resist embarking on a Crusade when anything that vaguely resembles a “just” cause presents itself. When Comino Carvallo intended to display his sculpture – a life-sized, anatomically correct... Continue Reading →
I have done some fairly heavy-duty thinking about how to start off the new year’s blog programme. I am not big on new year’s resolutions: if you have to wait until a new year to make an important change in your life, then you don’t fully buy into the necessity for change, in my opinion,... Continue Reading →
I call it Miserable Worm Theology. Its creed goes something like this: I am a miserable worm. My heart is completely bad. Even when I want to do good, I cannot because every inclination of my being is towards evil. God shouldn’t even look at me. I am unworthy. I understand why God wants to... Continue Reading →
On your second birthday I made a decision that on every birthday, for as long as I was able to do so, I would write you a message. I know how fragile life is, and I wanted you, one day – should anything ever happen to separate us too soon (it will always be too... Continue Reading →
Newsflash: the purpose behind any debate is not to determine who is right and who is wrong, but to further understanding. I am not a major fan of Christian apologetics, because – by and large – I think it perpetuates the disturbing anti-intellectual culture that seems to characterise much of Protestant and Evangelical Christianity. To... Continue Reading →
Metaphors matter. The ways that we understand ourselves and our place in the world are firmly grounded in the pictures we design to represent key abstract principles. Plainly speaking, in order to make sense of an overwhelming universe, in an attempt to create order out of the chaos, we tell stories, we develop languages, we... Continue Reading →
“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.” L. R. Knost I have been accused of... Continue Reading →
I hate going to live music concerts. I know that in terms of popular culture this is the equivalent of being a leper, but I have made my peace with it. The reason I hate them is because my reasons for attending them are not always in sync with the reasons driving the adoring masses,... Continue Reading →
Vapors In The Wind 