Just A Tantrum Of Fun
Happy Friday! I have some videos to share with you – they’re just a tantrum of fun…
1. VIDEO—Baby Likes To Dance & Wants It Loud.
2. VIDEO—Employees Happiest When Pretending To… Read More
Category "Uncategorized"
Tribalism: Seeing Others As Not Fully Human
Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ, for He is going to say, “I came as a guest, and you received me.” —Rule of St Benedict
I squirm whenever I hear someone talking about “The gays…” or “The Muslims…” or “The illegal immigrants…” or ”The Catholics…” or “The whatevers.” Sure, it probably has something to do with the sweeping generalizations, labeling, stereotyping. But I’m realizing it’s more than that.
When we speak about “The whatevers,” we are identifying “them” as separate from “us.” It’s tribalism, and tribalism is all about who’s in and and who’s out. According to Professor Richard Beck, “Ingroup members are considered to be fully human. Outgroup members are infrahumans” (less than fully human).
As the famous anthropologist Levi-Strauss said, “Humankind ceases at the border of the tribe.”
Belgium psychologist Jacques-Philippe Leyens first coined the term INFRAHUMANIZATION to describe the belief that one’s ingroup is more human than those outside it. A classic case of infrahumanization is found in the US Constitution (Article 1. Section 2. Paragraph 3) where… Read More
God as the Stranger
The theme of welcoming the stranger can be seen throughout Scripture. Abraham and Sarah welcomed three traveling strangers, offering them hospitality and friendship, a place to rest and to eat. When Jesus was born, those who celebrated and visited and brought gifts were strangers. In the story of the Good Samaritan, the wounded man is helped, not by his own people, but by a stranger—a despised Samaritan.
“With the stranger lies surprise, new possibility, contact with that part of God and reality that we have never experienced before.” —Ronald Rolheiser
Parker Palmer, in his book The Company of Strangers says…
The role of the stranger in our lives is… Read More
The Attraction Of Small Graces & Specific Kindnesses
In Phil Needham’s book When God Becomes Small, he shares the following…
I love the story Kathleen Norris tells about her three-year old niece. The girl’s father would drive her to day care in the morning on the way to work, and her mother would pick her up on the way home.
Often the mother would peel an orange and bring it to her daughter when she picked her up.
One day Norris came across her niece playing “Mommy’s office” on the front porch of their home. She asked her niece what… Read More
The Good Kind of Shouting
It’s Sunday again – time for the good kind of shouting – some shout outs. Here’s what I enjoyed online this past week:
1. This post: We’re Meant To Be Swimming In The Deep by Anne-Marie Heckt.
My favorite line(s): “My thoughts drifted to the One who knows me. Who gets me. Better than any other ever, ever could. Water is an elemental love. Sky might be yours. Or loud noises, or wet rain, or heat that cracks the bones, or dancing in the motes of a sunrise. Or reading words and letting them bubble into and over you like champagne.
All of that beauty feeds us and it comes from the One who knows us.
We are meant to be out there, deep, swimming. Not clinging to the shore. Time spent in that beauty is not… Read More
Happy Friday! Smile.
Happy Friday! It’s time to smile. Got a few fun videos for ya…
1. Jimmy Fallon Hashtags #OneTimeInClass.
2. Kids Try… Read More
God Goes To The Wrong People Don’t Be Mad
God goes to the wrong people. You know, “those people.”
The ones we wouldn’t pick, if God was leaving the picking up to us (it’s a good thing He’s not).
And this is not new. He’s been doing it for a long time.
Jesus reminds his listeners of this uncomfortable truth in… Read More
At Frankie’s Confession
I love the story of Frankie’s confession – as told by Frank McCourt in his famous autobiography Angela’s Ashes.
The story takes place in Limerick, Ireland when he was a young boy…
His mother had just given birth, and their in-laws from the north sent some money to buy milk for the new baby. But his father, an alcoholic, has taken the money and is drinking it up in the pubs.
His mother sends Frankie to find his dad and bring him home.
Young Frankie can’t find his father, but what he finds instead is… Read More
Sundays Are For Sharing
Sundays are for sharing – so here are some shout-outs to three great writers: Carlos Rodriguez, Kathy Escobar, and Jason Isaacs. Please take a few minutes to read what they shared online this week…
1. This post: 9 Reasons Sinners Went To Jesus But Don’t Come To Us by Carlos Rodriguez.
Here’s my favorite line(s): “1. Because we complain. About politics, Obama, abortion, Islam, liberal media, sex, taxes and… Read More
A Little Different But Just As Fun
On Fridays I like to share a few funny and/or interesting videos. Today is a little different, but just as fun. Here’s what I have for you:
1) Audio of Jubal’s prank “Phone Tap” of a church-going… Read More