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At least from my perspective as a pastor, I think the abortion issue is one of the more complex moral problems of our age. It pits the rights of the mother against those of the child, such that if one takes one side over the other, one is perceived as compassionless by the other side.

Has the latest telescopic view of the universe (universes?) had any effect on liberal thinking concepts of a creator, intelligent design OR ESPECIALLY on the capability of the human species to really understand its source? Are we attempting a task greater than our human intelligence is capable of?

Thesis #3: Human beings have the intelligence to think abstractly, and to use symbols (esp. complex language, which eventually allows a human person to think of himself/herself in the third person.) This is in essence what sets human psychology apart from animal psychology.

Question: I am a New Thought Minister who presents the Bible and the Christ in much the same manner as Bishop Spong does in his articles and books. Can the Christ and Christianity survive the adolescence period where all is in flux, change and turmoil and emerge as the loving empowering way of life that Jesus intended and that we so desperately need or will the Fundamentalists win the day? Will we make it to Spiritual Adulthood?

We are approaching the end of an Age that began eight/six thousand years ago after our movement out of Africa and into Egypt and the Levant and beyond. We had moved out of Africa before that, but this time it was different. Something of positive import to human civilization was taking place. Looking back, there were a broad range of achievements. Yet, many of these “achievements” are now beginning to haunt us. Scientists today are giving us warning. They are telling us we are in many respects living in alienation of Planet earth’s Biosphere.

Thesis #2 – Human beings share completely in the evolution of species, and much of human psychology, emotions and social life, as well as basic physical and nervous makeup, reflect that shared animal heritage.

On this St. Patrick’s Day it is fitting to receive a blessing from a grand Irishman whose writing reaches into my soul. Followers of this blog know that John O’Donohue is one of my favourite sages. I am indebted to a follower of the blog for sending me this podcast of Krista Tripett’s interview of John O’Donohue recorded shortly before his death in 2008. O’Donohue’s words continue to open my soul.

Our Axial Age is in a state of exhaustion. It is approaching its end. It also could be our end. Planet earth is now giving us this warning: It is telling us that if we continue on the present path, like any other organism that alienates itself from the Biosphere, we will be rejected. Can we escape from this conundrum? Can Jesus be of help?

Yes he can, but only if we are willing to change the way we think. It will require us to accept cosmic interiority as expressed in The Gospel of Thomas.

Donald Trump won the Presidential election of 2016 because he campaigned as strongly pro-life. Roy Moore, despite allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers, came close to winning the recent Senate election in Alabama because he was also right on this issue among Evangelical Christians. The sacredness of human life is a fundamental conviction of millions of Christians—Evangelicals, Roman Catholics, and mainline Christians alike. Finding the right answer to the agonizing question of when to allow for a legal abortion has done more to divide Christians than any other political issue.

Human survival on this planet has now become a battle between two systems of thought and governance; one the American under President Trump based on vestiges of Western Neo-Liberalism and the other the Chinese under President Xi Jinping based on a restating of Marxist Socialism.

I want to present in thesis during the coming months the ideas I have been honing for many years now, which I have called a “Theory of Generative Death Anxiety.” Aside from the many theologians I have studied (among whom Paul Tillich deserves special mention) this theory draws heavily on ideas of Otto Rank, Robert J. Lifton, Rollo May, Terror Management Theory in social psychology, and most especially on the ideas of Ernest Becker, to whom I was introduced while in seminary and to whose work I have devoted the lion’s share of my scholarly work.

Please join me in a thought experiment I began during my morning walk. What if we are alone in the universe? What if Earth is the only celestial body in the entire cosmos that has evolved life?

It’s time to openly grieve for what we’ve lost. Only then can we have the conversation about what happens next.

It’s time for the “boys carrying pain” conversation. Only then can we have the “boys carrying guns” conversation.

It’s time to ask ourselves what MEN look like when they are spiritually mature, confident in their willingness, and powerful in their ability to love and forgive.

Only then can we recognize these men when we meet them.

Progressive thinkers cannot avail ourselves of the false security fundamentalist believers bring to church Sundays and to the Bible daily. We can, however, compensate for our dismissal of literalism with an answerably intense commitment to metaphor. And metaphor proves especially powerful in narratives. Narrative masters like Dickens can move our hearts as they bring our fellow creatures vividly and credibly alive. But they can do more: they can provoke our intellects and excite our imaginations. We love a story, instinctively, but we go a step farther and subject the tale to closer scrutiny and more probing critical analysis. (That, incidentally, is why I find Luke’s story of the road to Emmaus one of the most affecting New Testament narratives. It’s an account of a real-life journey, peopled with thoughtful and feeling human beings, who move from grief to joyful insight.)

Ever wonder how everything came into being? Ever wonder why? Was it merely a random chance occurrence, or was it something done with a purpose? And how does your answer to such questions determine how you look at the world and life? People have considered such questions for all of recorded history, and perhaps as long as there have been people.

“For those who want to believe in God but can’t. For those who once believed in God but now aren’t so sure.” Seismic means “having a strong or widespread impact; earthshaking.” And when the ground shakes, there may be a time of grief before there is relief; a time of loss before there is discovery; a time of darkness before there is light.

Prominent scientists throughout the world are now telling us that before the end of the present century we may be facing a sudden and dramatic reversal in planetary sustainability. They point to a succession of dangerous ecological “tipping points” from which there can be no return. In his new book David Anderson explores solutions to this dilemma and provides a way for us to address them. He shows how this can be accomplished by challenging the implicit ecological legitimacy of many of the institutions on which human society is now grounded; political, social, religious, economic. He gives the reader a life changing way to partake in this great event that calls for a radically new understanding of our relationship to Planet earth and the cosmos.

Since the FCC’s decision last month, religious leaders have been circulating a petition that describes net neutrality as a moral issue. Nurturing a fair society includes protecting the open internet, although the connection between the two may be less obvious than feeding the hungry or caring for the sick, said Cheryl Leanza, a policy adviser on media advocacy for the United Church of Christ and co-founder of Faithful Internet.

“The internet has been one of the greatest levelers we’ve ever had,” she said.