riflessioni
After writing on the immigration theme, I find myself increasingly preoccupied with the knowledge we have of the hungry, the cold, the naked: how disparately, how inequitably, we live and think nothing of it! In particular I John 3:16ff returns again, as it has for years when I consider this topic.
In a recent conversation regarding immigration with one I know to be Christian, I mentioned that the local paper had run an article about a discussion whether one could love one’s neighbor and deport him. The response startled me: “For him to be my neighbor he must be near me, and he isn’t supposed to be near me.”
I received an invitation to a breakfast laid on by a Christian business group; the title of the presentation is “How to Lead a High Performance, Kingdom Building Company.”
Perhaps this would better be titled ‘Evangelical vs. Post-evangelical community.’ Anyway, awaking this morning I found myself reflecting on two distinct community styles that I see emerging today.
It occurred to me tonight that in the traditional evangelical focus on Paul a specific confrontation is lost: Paul is not recorded as specifically seeking out the outcasts of society, the tax collectors, prostitutes, and so forth. I’ve no doubt that he did in fact talk to them, but since that is not explicitly stated as it was with Jesus it is easier to miss that point and focus on the theological or pastoral aspects. We generally prefer it that way; we can deal more with people like us.
Sono le 2330 della Veglia di Natale al momento che scrivo. Tra una mezz’ora sarà Natale. Il mio più forte ricordo della Veglia di Natale in Italia era del 1972, il secondo anno. Verso le 0730 trentaquattro anni fa partii da Vicenza in treno per andare a Rieti, dove passai la settimana insieme a vari amici.
For reasons I don’t quite understand this whole concept of integrated community is very much present to me now. I cannot escape or dismiss it in my own thinking about the role of the church. A question I must step back and answer for myself: why community? This is far from an adequate apologetic, but this is the gist of my thought at the moment.
In reading St. Justin’s First Apology, I was startled to find this reference; the bold phrase is what I wish to point out. This is followed by a further description of the practice of the community.
A is back on the streets again. She slipped up a couple of weeks ago, and all the old warning signs were present that she was about to disappear again. She passed it off as a minor incident, would not … Read More
In 2001, with the calling of a new rector and subsequent personal dialog with him for the first few months, I thought there was a real opportunity to form a Christian community within the context of an existing Anglican parish.