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It’s true that words are not the answer to everything. Sometimes silence is healing. Sometimes silence lets you think. Sometimes just listening, either to a friend or to God or to your own heart is all that’s needed. But when the silence is deafening, when the silence is lonely, we need to hear a word. A word of hope. A word of encouragement. A word of love.

We speak of American exceptionalism, a belief that we are special, uniquely able to bring peace and progress to the world. In this view, we are smarter than, better than, more prosperous than, more blessed than all the peoples of the world. These are sometimes experienced as gifts, but often, as entitlements.

Michael and Lisa Gungor are curators of the Grammy-nominated musical collective simply known as Gungor. The duo uses their skills as accomplished song writers and multi-instrumentalists to tell honest and forthright stories – some personal and some allegorical. Together they’ve tapped their considerable musical reserves to blur genres and break expectations creating a unique magnetic expression.

Through the Earth, Through the Sky, Through the Water, Through mist in my eyes, Your presence

But it is not only God that is recurrently jealous and punishing. Other monolithic entities can also be jealous: your nation, the military, employers, and political causes all demand unswerving loyalty. They chastise members who refuse to obey or ‘worship false Gods’ by colluding with enemies, conspiring with political, professional or commercial rivals. And God help those who whistle-blow, aaaagggghhh snitch!

For thousands of desperate refugees, the dangerous first step on their journey to Europe could be their last. Samaritan’s Purse teams are stationed at several primary stops across Europe distributing necessary supplies.

To know how to live do we need God and religion, or, does religion only produce wars, hatred, intolerance and unhappiness? Does giving up God mean giving up morality, or, can we finally live a peaceful and fulfilling life as atheists by following science and reason instead? The anthropologist Christopher Hallpike has spent a lifetime’s research on the morality and religion of different cultures around the world, and shows that trying to base a moral life on atheism and science actually has some very nasty surprises in store for us.

Our love for one another allows us to face our fears together. Trust God and love one another.

“The Spiritual task today is to discover the infinite in the life of the finite. I seek oneness with God, not magical intervention by God.” ~Bishop John Shelby Spong

Do not let the Christian doctrine of the Trinity alienate you from the oneness of God; for God is both the many and the one.

Wise and loving God:
Sometimes we have come to you like little children with broken toys to be fixed. Many times you have healed our broken hearts and frayed relationships.

O dear God, I love you!
I ache for you, my heart burns for you
and only you can quench this fire

“I don’t come here to hand out a sandwich, that is just a tool. I come here only to show my love for a fellow human being. To recognize them as a person, to recognize them in their dignity, in their god given dignity that is in them. And no police and no force in this country can stop me from loving them. And that’s why I’m here.”

“Two-Lane Theology” answers the question: If I took a slow drive across the US and looked for God along the way, what would I see? Don’t pretend to be John Steinbeck “searching for America.” Just be myself, meandering some days, stopping here and there, going random. All in a fresh search for God.

Let me tell you a classic Thanksgiving story created by the brilliant Garrison Keillor, which takes place on the outskirts of Lake Wobegon, where “All the women are smart. The men are good looking. And the children are above average.”

A creative dance embodying our need to protect our rivers and our earth. This would be lovely to show during a community gathering.

“The secret of attraction is to love yourself. Attractive people judge neither themselves nor others. They are open to gestures of love. They think about love, and express their love in every action. They know that love is not a mere sentiment, but the ultimate truth at the heart of the universe.”

Jesus, a cleric and a politician walk into a bar …

If that sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, consider the 3-ring circus of political debates and punditry already well underway 14 months before our next national presidential election. It is infused with religiously-motivated rhetoric that expresses itself in political terms.

“How we think about religion — even if we are skeptics or atheists — will spell itself out in how we think about society,” observes philosophy professor, David Galston. “In other words, our theology and politics are inextricably linked. The difference of course is that politicians get to enact their thinking as policy.”

If that is the case, should one consider a candidate’s religious bent when assessing the way they might make their political decisions? Absolutely! You can read more here.