The Unclad Soul

Abortion and gay marriage are difficult issues for most of us.  In fact, I would say they are for all of us.  They are often so misunderstood and those dealing directly with them are many times dismissed, condemned, or otherwise mistreated because of it. Abortion. Abortion is always complicated.  I have known couples, families, individuals who have been through this.  None of them ever took it lightly or thought of it as some easy way out of a difficult situation.  They each one agonized over the whole process.  And they all carried afterwards a wound, a deep feeling of remorse, free-floating guilt for years, the burden of second guessing their decision, and the grief and loss that come from going through something like that. We should have the greatest compassion for women and those closest to them who choose to have an abortion.  Why do we often forget or refuse to do that? Abortion clinics should be places of solace, quiet care...

“Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century: 1. Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others. 2. Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected. 3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it. 4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences. 5. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind. 6. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman Philosopher/Statesman

What would we be like if the Garden of Eden story had ended differently? What if there was no Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to stay away from? Or, what if it had been perfectly fine to eat the fruit of that tree so that the first humans could learn all of the good stuff? The author of Genesis, supposedly Moses, was apparently doing his best to explain evil and suffering in the world. It's a shame he couldn't just say we aren't finished yet. The idea that we are born to be bad, to do evil, to sin, is so limiting to the human spirit. Do we do bad things because we learned from the beginning that we are bad? What if we had been told how beautiful we are, how gifted and intelligent, and how capable we are of doing good? Whatever else was going on in the author's world or life at the time of writing Genesis, surely it wasn't all horror and depravity and calamity. And if it wasn't, then where did that goodness come from? And how did telling us we a...

Carl Sagan, the great astronomer and author, once said that religion “assumes that people are children and need a boogeyman so they’ll behave.” He believed that religion sells people short and diminishes their ability to solve their own problems. There is truth in that. I find myself strongly in agreement with him. I grew up in the church. I wanted to be a professional baseball player or a broadcast journalist but I ended up being a Christian minister instead. A lot of it was because my parents instilled in me the notion that service to God was the highest calling available. They were deeply religious and it was difficult to ever get away from the idea that nothing much mattered except a life of devotion to the church. I spent 22 years in active ministry—preaching, teaching, writing, studying, digging into the Bible for answers to life, wrestling with the very conservative beliefs of my denomination, questioning hell and sin and judgment, reading the classical theologians, t...

We live in a divided and divisive country. In spite of the many advances that minorities have gained in America, racism is still a vicious and unyielding presence among us. Our political system wobbles feebly almost uselessly from the influences of corruption, bullheadedness, favoritism, malaise, haughtiness and indifference. Churches and the religious community once such a force for good and spiritual guidance are now often caught up in partisan political campaigning, serving politicians and clearly ignoring Jesus, not to mention the dispossessed, the sick, the young and the old, the hurting, the addicted, and the lonely. All across the country there hovers in the air a spirit of nastiness, wrangling, antagonism, and bitter discord and discourse. The story is told of a father and son sitting outside their house one summer evening talking and sipping iced tea. The night sky was a bit hazy but brilliant with stars and the son suddenly commented how beautiful the moons were abo...

For many years I had a fascination with the Catholic Church. I liked its beautiful liturgy, the formality of its worship. I was often taken with the elaborate, ornate atmosphere of their sanctuaries and cathedrals--the burning candles, the Holy Water, the Stations of the Cross, the ever present and large crucifix, the famous scenes of Jesus captured in brilliant stained glass windows, the Eucharist at the center of the altar, the burning incense, the cloistered confessionals, the priests colorful robes. I loved that they had such high regard for Mary. I was moved that they didn’t take Jesus off the Cross but left him there as a reminder of the agony and passion of his love. I liked that their priests often smoked openly and would have a drink outside the church. I related to their humanness. And I felt a kinship with their concept of the homily, the brief sermon, the message of Christ’s care for us and interest in us told in quiet words spoken in a matter of minutes. Then we ...

The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) often shows between programs a photo of Earth from space with its swirling clouds and blue oceans. Then there appears this tagline: The World Find your way I love that sentiment. It speaks of belonging. It affirms all humanity. It challenges us to discover where we fit in. It asks us to make our individual contribution to the world. Finding our way is a colossal human quest. The question, “Why am I here?” has universal implications. What does my life mean in the whole scope of things? That’s what we all want to know. How do we find our way in the world? We find it through education. I want to say that education should never be something we fear. Some people are simply afraid to know more. It feels safe knowing what we know. But life expands into astonishment and wonder when we allow ourselves to learn new things and to accept new ideas. It takes us to new places of self discovery. It helps us understand others. It deepens o...