Consider

“I'd like to walk with you there to find out whether we look at things the same way” ― Vincent to his brother Theo, Antwerp, 28 Nov 1885 Our dear friends, Anne and Giles Florence, invited us to attend with them the remarkable worldwide exhibit, Beyond Van Gogh. I found it one of the most enriching and enlightening experiences of the year. Like some concerts I've attended, some trails I've…

“What if rich did not have to mean wealthy, and whole did not have to mean healed? What if being people of “the gospel” meant that we are simply people with good news? God is here. We are loved. It is enough.” ― Kate Bowler, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved” So much I feel to share. Let's start with Kate Bowler's TED talk, who a…

“...it is nowhere held that [the Church's Prophet] is the only instrumentality through which God may communicate [God's] mind and will to the world.” – B.H. Roberts The B.H. Roberts quote is from a post by Bruce Hammond some years ago. For me, it points importantly to the the more central question of revelation on the current doctrine of LGBTQ and patriarchy. After quoting from 2 Nephi 29 and Alma…

...left us with a beautiful legacy of friendship and heart-filled scholarship  Twice, Curt Bench led conversations for Faith Again. Each evening was tremendously rewarding. Not just for his insights and scholarship, but how he delivered his insights with wit and warmth. He was a genuine Christian. This was best evidenced in a recent Faith Again where he and Brent Metcalfe discussed their long running friendship despite deep differences in how…

“Pleasured equally In seeking as in finding, Each detail minding, Old Walt went seeking And finding.” – Langston Hughes So many things in life to catch our attention. Here are a few good ones that have caught mine: Two really good recent conversations on Faith Matters: Imaginative discipleship with Bob Rees Loving Without an Agenda with Ben Schilaty and Charlie Bird Sunstone Symposium: July 28-31, 2021 Including a virtual Smith-Pettit…

“America is no fairy tale,” Biden added. “It’s been a constant push and pull between two parts of our character: the idea that all men and women — all people — are created equal and the racism that has torn us apart.” – Breitbart That quote is from a remarkably good news piece in Breitbart. Interestingly, it sums up well what Bill Moyers said in a remarkably good speech celebrating…

“I pray my rage is a fire That cleans my mind out And makes me ready to listen I pray my pain is a river That flows to the ocean That connects my pain to yours And I pray I pray my happiness like pollen That flies to you and pollenates your joy oh boy Oh boy is that possible? I don’t know I don’t know We are making this…

“With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you are connected to the sea.” – Silvia Earle Six years ago, my daughter Michelle and I, went to St. Croix with some friends exploring doing eco-humanitarian work on this poverty ridden and Lionfish decimated island. She went back shortly after we returned home and has been there ever since. Michelle has such a deep love and respect for…

“If there were no poetry on any day in the world, poetry would be invented that day. For there would be an intolerable hunger.” – Muriel Rukeyser "In the Opinion Pages of the New York Times on July 20, 2014, seven poets were asked to respond to the question, "Does poetry matter?" Perhaps no other art form is asked to defend its value, impact, relevance, and existence as often as…

“Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” – Plato   These three themes below, I have come to see as very interrelated. They are related in terms of containing ideas and impulses that need to be examined, felt deeply, apologized for and reconciled with as well as ideas and impulses that hold the promise of a better day…