There is weight and meaning in the words we use. Words can be used to manipulate, mislead, wound, deceive, and abuse—but words can also tell the truth.
Church
Relativism Is Out. Truth Is In.
Brandon McGinley
Truth is in, and that’s good. It’s much better for Christians, and for everyone, for the terms of discourse to be made clear, rather than obscured behind the false neutrality of skepticism and relativism and tolerance. But if we try to contain truth within American political categories, just as when we try to tame Christ and his teachings, we will continue to do violence to it, and to him.
Is Unity Possible?
What makes political authority legitimate? How is it perceived as legitimate? These two questions are at the center of what we’ve been considering at Breaking Ground for the past few weeks, because they’re at the center of what it means to have a transition of power,...
Building Our Commons
Father Jack Wall, Joe Boland
How might we imagine and actually each play a role in building a more woven, widely shared commons? A commons committed to solidarity and humbly receptive to repair. One that keeps human dignity front and center and sees all of life as gift. How could each of us and each of the societal sectors that touch our lives and that we touch in turn—education, medicine, business, social service, law, media, politics, the institutional church, and more—how could we and all these shift, perhaps softly in some ways, perhaps dramatically in others, to sow a better normal?
The Complexities of Forbearance
Gregory Lee
In the middle of the twentieth century, American Christianity experienced a subtle but seismic shift. As sociologist Robert Wuthnow observed, where Christians had once distinguished themselves according to denominational identity, following the Second World War,...
Sing, Choirs of Angels
Sr. Carino Hodder
“O, little town of Bethlehem,” said my devoutly Sikh taxi driver. “How still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and . . .” (I chimed in from the back seat, providing the elusive word) – “dreamless – thank you – sleep, the silent stars go by. Yet, in thy dark streets...
Good Grief
Stuart McAlpine
It has been a year of sorrows both personal and national. As we each feel our way through the intensity, how does one awaken to that sorrow that is holy and transformative for Spirit-empowered change in the world, and turn away from a sorrow that paralyzes and blames?
The Complicated Grief of Advent
Heidi Deddens
One of my favorite Advent hymns is “O Come O Come Emmanuel”—though for much of my life, I must admit, that love stemmed more from the haunting beauty of the melody than the rich meaning of its lyrics. This year, though, the words feel particularly apt. The first verse...
The Skill of Hospitality
L.M. Sacasas
In this reflection on the thought of Ivan Illich, L.M. Sacasas writes that there can be no substitute for the work of rediscovering our common humanity in the practice of hospitality, which, insofar as it flowers into friendship, will be the starting point of politics.
Become America
Eric Liu, Michael Gerson
Michael Gerson: Eric, I really enjoyed your timely and important book. One of the most remarkable things about it is its form. I want to start off by asking: Why wrap civic engagement in the form of religion? Eric Liu: First of all, I’m so grateful we’re having this...