Taking the Bit
Sometimes the lectionary gives us a series of verses, from various parts of the Bible, that are connected, like beads on a string by a
March 24, 2025
Bill's Progressive Christian Blog
Help for those stuck in a conservative box
Weekly Word:
(posts that may or may not match this week's lectionary scriptures)
A Fig Tree Time of Life
I believe that we as a nation, as well as, as individuals, go through different periods of our lives. We are like the washing machine
March 17, 2025
Stop Screaming at the Microwave
Too often, we shout, “Hurry up!” This is not Christ-like. We see in Jesus a life where patience and prayer guided every word and deed.
March 13, 2025
Bill's Current Thoughts on Faith, Society, and Where We are Headed
A Sneak Peak
In my novel, “Martha Finds Rest,” I retell the story of the first Easter. When I get to the part where Jesus visits the upper room in John chapter 20, my novel dramatizes the events, utilizing the viewpoint of a spying twelve-year old.
March 19, 2025
No Separate Peace
Wars don’t always begin with the firing of a gun. Sometimes they begin with a separate peace. Often what we do to preserve “normal” leads to tragedy. Twenty-five years ago, Al Gore called the unacceptable normal of human generated climate change an inconvenient truth. Forty years before that, the phrase “our nation’s darkest hour” was used to describe the dirty tricks and abuse of power that had become normal in the Nixon Whitehouse. An uneasy time of detente hung in Europe during the 1930s. Antisemitic violence and the remilitarization of Germany — something forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles — was normalized by a separate peace negotiated by Lord Chamberlain. Polish people today, should be wary of any separate peace negotiated by the United States with Russia. From 1619 until 1865, it was considered normal in America to buy and sell human beings. As I write this, the United
March 19, 2025
Grant us…
Grant us the courage to resist evil. Teach us to forgive. As we pray for each other, Grant us peace and unity. Amen. I would suggest gathering with whoever will join you at a fixed time and location each week, holding hands, and praying the resistance prayer. The evil that surrounds us today, makes resistance costly and offers neither apologies nor forgiveness. It seeks to divide us. Its leaders do not know the way to peace. Pray simply. Openly. Don’t share your opinion or fears.
March 13, 2025
So now we stop supporting Ukraine?
Russian invaded Ukraine. Its people fought bravely for their freedom. They took the weapons and aid we gave them (without conditions) and surprised the world by defeating well supplied Russian troops. They moved their schools underground to continue to care for their children. The Russians sent missiles and drones to blow up hospitals and apartment building. The Ukrainian people buried their innocent family members. The Russians cut off Ukrainian grain exports that were feeding millions of people. And when the war ground on, and the Ukrainian people persisted against all the odds. The Russians brought in mercenaries from North Korea, and purchased drones from Iran. The leaders of the free world united in condemning these tactics. But, Putin is Trump’s friend, and President Zelensky has good reason to ask for security guarantees before entering into any deal. The behavior of our leaders today is shameful, disrespecting not only Ukraine’s war
March 2, 2025
How does one build?
President Obama was a serious man who carried out his duties as one lays bricks, one square and true principle at a time. People complained that this was expensive. A house built on justice didn’t look American. President Biden was an experienced woodworker who built us a functional house with two by fours and a picket fence. We complained that his fence didn’t keep migrants out. The house lacked curb appeal. Now Trump is building us a house out of straw. DOGE will make the rich, richer. In Gaza and Ukraine, a quick peace will displace the innocent and deny freedom to millions. The winds of climate change will blow his beautiful straw economy away. Journalists will be commanded to write pulp rather than serious reports of the President’s failings. Most of all, Justice will no longer be blind, and what she sees will make her weep.
March 2, 2025
Why Pelicans
The early church saw the pelican as a symbol of Christ. I see these birds as symbols of beauty. They gracefully skim a dozen feet above the water, curl their wings, and suddenly drop to catch a fish. When at rest, they sit peacefully on their selected post. They are not like the cormorants, who constantly clown around and jostle each other to get the ‘best’ seat. The early church picked up on an ancient legend concerning the pelican. It was believed that in times of famine, a mother pelican would feed her chicks by stabbing her chest with her beak until it bled. The hungry chicks would lap up the blood mixed with tears and be nourished. If the famine went on long enough, this act of self-sacrifice would take the life of the mother. So, the early church instructed their leaders. The institutional, mother church, in every community
March 20, 2025
Relief Pitchers & Presidents
I don’t know much about baseball, but I’ve noticed that good relief pitchers rarely get asked to start the next game and be a “normal” player. Baseball also has pinch hitters who lacked the skill set to be in the starting lineup. In the business world, interims are hired to do specific short term tasks. Joe Biden in 2019 promised to be a transitional leader and not to run for a second term. After Covid and Jan 6, we needed a leader who would put his/her ego aside and work to restore the presidential office. We brought Biden in as a relief pitcher to clean up the mess lefts by someone who didn’t understand the job. Biden did this well for about three years. By the end of his fourth year he had the economy back on its feet with good jobs numbers and post-covid inflation under control. But nobody
November 12, 2024
Triple Grief
I’ve been thinking a lot about grief lately. A sweet sixteen-year-old relative of mine passed away suddenly in September. My dog died at the end of October. I lost an election this week. Perhaps the last of the three is of a different, because I, personally, wasn’t running for president. Still, it was a gut punch. Sandberg and Grant in their book “Option B” say that taking these things personally is unavoidable. In grief, the thought that we could have prevented the tragedy haunts us. Healing requires us to step back, accept the randomness of bad luck, and cease playing the blame game. I must stop thinking that there was something that I, or someone else, could have done to tip the election. Sandberg and Grant also say that we must stop imagining that our loss is permanent. Even in the 1930s, when Hitler and Mussolini won elections in their
November 7, 2024
Weaving and Senility
I’m getting tired of all the political ads on TV. They push out the more important choices that a man my age has to make, like if I should go into a senior living home, or start taking that memory drug I can’t remember the name of, or… Speaking of depends, did you notice all the non sequiturs in the former president’s speeches lately? I did have to look up non sequitur (statements that don’t logically follow in whatever the heck you are talking about). Before I turned seventy I used such words all the time and never had to look up the spelling. Where was I? Oh, yes… In nearby Latrobe, the other day, he left the script entirely. Started talking about Arnold Palmer’s manly parts. Years ago, someone told me that non sequiturs were an early sign of senility… or was it just old age? He calls it
October 21, 2024
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