What is it behind the most inspiring stories we know of people embracing suffering? Vince wonders if it's a certain kind of perspective that's hard for modern Western people to learn. But it still can be! (Photo by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash)
Read MoreVince & Hayley respond to a grab bag of questions about suffering and the tension of alleviating vs embracing. (Image from the Center for Action & Contemplation)
Read MoreFor MLK Day weekend, we continue our look at the tension of alleviating suffering and embracing suffering for a good, full life, learning from some of Dr. King's 1967 speeches.
Read MoreThat is the question! Vince reflects personally and intellectually on how a good, full life seems to involve BOTH a commitment to alleviating suffering AND an embrace of the inevitability of suffering. What do we do with that? How does one hold that tension? Jesus' life and ministry offer needed insights.
Read MoreHayley brings us to the provocative, beautiful suggestion from 13th century mystic Meister Eckhart that we are all called to be mothers who give birth to God -- bringing God's Spirit into the uprootedness of life, into the most unfathomable of circumstances. (Art by @osageandfern)
Read MoreVince asks questions about poverty, exploitation, and perceiving God's Spirit as we turn again to Matthew's Christmas story about the confrontation between Herod and the Magi. (Art: "Herod greeting the three magi" by Rolf Nesch, 1922)
Read MoreFor the second Sunday of Advent, we visit again Mary's Magnificat -- the song of longing and revolution that formed Jesus in the womb.
Read MoreWhere is God when we feel stuck or trapped? For the first Sunday of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, we look at Isaiah 9, a traditional Advent passage, with help from womanist theologian Monica Coleman. (Art: Isaiah 9 by Amy Lindahl)
Read MoreInstead of a message this week, we have our annual update on the financial and business side of running BLC. Plus, we're celebrating our community's 10 year birthday! (Image from Hamid Roshaan on Unsplash)
Read MoreThrough the lens of the Nap Ministry's Tricia Hersey and her book "Rest is Resistance", Hayley continues our church's discussion of how to address societal burnout. (Illustration by Kumé Pather)
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