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High steppin’ camels one by one
See the wise men boogaloo
Down to Bethlehem to have some fun

Full of God, full to birthing,
Mary howls: head back, hair tossed,
Hands skyward with joy
That wrongs are about to be righted,
Salvation’s about to be sighted.

The last candle burns
The waiting’s almost over
Soon we’ll hear a baby crying
and we’ll know that God is no mere idea

A baby cries…
and its cry commands our attention.
What does it need, how can we provide?

My “musing” a few weeks ago focused on a 7-year old boy’s question:  “What ideas do you have about how to stop the mean people?”  Since seeing his question on a poster he made and placed on …

“‘God did it’ isn’t an explanation,” said Joseph.
He got no account for the baby’s chromosomes,

Fire who burns inside the mountain
Earth who feeds the trees
Sea who sprays up like a fountain
Wind who sighs the leaves

I am,
said God to Moses from the burning bush.

I am the light of the world…
I am the way…
I am the gate…
I am the vine…
I am the bread…
Before Abraham was, I am…
said Jesus.

Here I offer a set of assumptions and suggestions for reading, understanding, and making creative spiritual use of the Bible.

The Supreme Court of the US is now considering a case from Greece, NY, in which
the town board started its meetings with sectarian Christian prayers.
 Lower courts disallowed them as violations of the clause in the Constitution …

Religions, like puppy owners, often don’t do a good job of scooping up the messes they leave behind. But that’s not a compelling enough reason to give up on either your God or your dog.

Take and eat: take and meet
This is my body: I am the bread
The bread of life, the bread of lives

1. Watch your thoughts and feelings and urges. Close your eyes, stay quiet for 20 minutes, and observe what is going on in your mind and your body. What claims your attention? What emotions and bodily sensations …

Hearken, children, to the sound
A bird dives, screaming, to the ground
Rise out of the water!
Stand up from the water!
Children, children, rise!

The book stirred my blood. It inspired me to work harder to change history, not just lament current repetitions of old, bad patterns.

Fear makes you crazier than safer,
Not worth the protection you pay for.
Fear’s what you feel about what you don’t know
That prevents you from knowing.

Oh, vacant sky! Oh, empty land!
Oh heart of mine, bereft of hope!
Why do I even bother crying? What’s the use
Of even complaining? When there is no one to hear
And no one to see my tears?

With morbid fascination, I’m watching the leaders of the United States group-think their way into a counter-productive use of American military force. It’s disturbing to observe otherwise intelligent and well-motivated public servants drift into a bad decision.

Christianity has concerned itself with matters of war and peace for almost its entire history. The one unifying assumption of the faith has been that war is terrible and is to be avoided assiduously. There has always been a part of Christianity that has rejected war absolutely, considering participation in it to be completely contrary to the teachings of Jesus. But alongside it has been a strand of the faith that recognizes that war is morally justified in certain circumstances. “Just war theory” dates back to St. Augustine in the early days of the church. I think it still is a useful way of prayerfully considering whether or not a war, and/or one’s participation in it, is appropriate.

Perhaps being a souljourner requires the same willingness to look foolish that is required in order to learn a language. I remember the crazy stuff I said when I was studying Spanish in Mexico years ago. I certainly embarrassed myself – and turned others beet-red a time or two, as well. But as long as I showed humility and a willingness to get it right the next time, people seemed to cut me lots of slack. Perhaps the most important ingredients in etiquette are genuine openness, curiosity, and an attitude, if not yet a correct appearance, of respect.

Light a candle as each line is spoken:
This candle is for the 150 loving, caring members of Sausalito Presbyterian Church.
This candle is for the people in our church who suffer from illness or disability.

May the sounds of every city in every land–
the rush of traffic, the din of piledrivers
the hum of power lines, the roar of furnaces

We worked all day. Dad and Rachel were on one team, Father Crespi and I were on another, refilling tanks, cleaning up trash around them, and placing new ones. Five new blue flags, marking the new tanks, waved defiantly against the demon of thirst, and fluttered in the breeze over the desert at sundown that evening. The crew enjoyed a dinner at Rachel’s house prepared by the Women’s Society of the Federated Church.

O dear One
whose name is more than a name
whose power I cannot tame

These are Study and Discussion Questions that can be used with SOULJOURN, By Jim Burklo Find the book here Have you ever had an out-of-ego experience? How can religion and spirituality help to get you out of …

An excerpt from SOULJOURN, my new novel (Chapter 6): I went home, said goodnight to Dad, and went to bed. The moonlight bathed my bedroom. The silence seemed to beg to be filled. I opened the bedroom …

Is that you, God, in a blade of grass breaking through a crack in the asphalt? Is that you, God, holding the rest of the asphalt together?

SOULJOURN is an entertaining way to learn about the religions of the world, and to get inspired to learn a lot more. It’s a novel with a mission – to increase religious literacy so that people of all faiths, or no religion, can understand and respect each other more.

My eyes cut a sliver of the lighted moon for your glory
I watch the darkness clear the sky for stars
Standing in the silent sound of your name
I claim this sand for your kingdom

Do not think that Aslan, a professor of creative writing at my alma mater, the University of California at Riverside, wrote this book to present the Jesus of nonviolent compassion. Aslan zealously pursues an historically angry Jesus who sought to evict the Romans by force and institute an earthly realm of divine justice for the poor.

When beauty illumines a corner of your life, may your thanks to God spread that light through your whole being.

(I’m working now on a project called SEEDS, LEAVES, ROOTS: Faithful Rhetoric and Reflection for Progressive Social Action. It’s an initiative of Progressive Christians Uniting – I serve on its board of directors. We are creating a …

Walking in the early morning on the Lizard Head trail under the red cliffs of Sedona, Arizona, last Sunday, I repeated the mantra I often use while taking hikes: “Am I here? Am I here? Am I here?”