Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Then God looked at all God had made, and God saw that it was very good.
—Genesis 1:31

Cherokee theologian and CAC guest faculty member Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley considers how creation’s goodness includes diversity, balance, and harmony:

In the pronouncement that “it is good,” the Creator is making an accurate judgment about all that exists. By proclaiming that everything is good, right, in order, and as it should be, God sets the state of earthly normalcy. “Good” becomes the once-and-for-all standard of life on earth….

In the first account of creation, each action and each result of God’s action is differentiated. Not one created part is the other, nor does it become the other. Each part of creation was made unique and after its own kind, special. And yet, each part is incomplete without the whole, and everything is being and becoming in relationship to and with the other…. It is the essence of harmony and balance.

The celestials regulate the balance of the terrestrials. The night dusk comes to softly compel all creation to enter into rest and the calm brings about refreshing coolness to the world. The advent of the day provides new life and new opportunities like the embrace of warmth for plants, animals, and humans. The moon regulates all the waters. The sun regulates each season…. Everything created is in harmony and balance with everything else and with the Creator. The first week of creation is a grand picture of shalom on the earth.

God’s shalom, which is holistic peace and harmony, is discovered through the interconnectedness of all creation.

From God’s purview there is an interconnectedness of all God has made. All things are designed and created beautifully by their Creator. Each part of the created whole bears the mark of its Creator. Each element works in relationship with all the others. Each ingredient is connected through its common origin and, together, all share a common location in the universe; and when God is finished with creation there is a pause on the seventh day. Not a pause as if to look back and second-guess, but an intentional pause to celebrate the way it is. The Aboriginal Rainbow Elders in Australia say the Creator sang on the seventh day. The meaning is like that of a gathering or a community “get-together” where celebration is the only priority. The celebration is a party because everything is harmonious as it was meant to be. This is God’s shalom creation party. Though told in slightly different ways, many indigenous peoples around the world are able to recognize this story, and this pause, as the Harmony Way….

The idea of God’s shalom is not divorced from creation, but as we can plainly see from the earliest Genesis account, creation is central to our understanding of shalom. Creation (what God did and continues to do daily) and the carrying out of shalom (what we are to do daily) are inextricably interwoven. We have the opportunity each day to participate in God’s shalom activities.

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JAN 14, 2026 God’s Glory Returns to the Temple

In 516 BC, the Jerusalem temple, destroyed by the Babylonians 70 years earlier, was rebuilt. This story is told in the Old Testament book of Ezra. With a remnant of Jews returning from exile and the temple’s reconstruction and rededication, God’s people expected that his glory would also return to dwell among them. But it didn’t. As Old Testament scholar Carmen Imes notes, “The rebuilt temple had never offered any proof of the presence of God. Unlike the tabernacle, which God’s glory filled (Ex. 40:34), and the temple of Solomon, where heavenly fire also came on the altar (2 Chron. 7:1), the rebuilt temple was a disappointment. At its dedication, there was no fire, no visible glory—nothing to signify that God dwelt there.” Jewish writings during this second-temple period frequently lamented the absence of God’s glory. Without any evidence of God’s presence, the temple wasn’t truly a temple, which meant the people of Israel couldn’t truly fulfill their calling to be a priesthood that mediates God’s presence to the world, and therefore their covenant with God wasn’t truly restored. This awkward state of ongoing exile persisted for 500 years, but there was still hope that the prophecies would be fulfilled and that God’s presence would one day return to the temple. That day is recorded in the second chapter of Luke’s gospel.In accordance with the Torah, Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus to Jerusalem to consecrate him to the Lord. This involved offering prayers and sacrifices at the temple. When they entered the temple courtyard with Jesus, they were met by two very old, very devout people. Simeon is described as righteous, full of the Holy Spirit, and “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” This is the Bible’s way of saying that he was waiting for God’s presence to finally return to the temple. When he saw Jesus, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God:“My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32) The way Luke describes him and Simeon’s prayer are both filled with temple language lifted from the Old Testament. The people believed that God’s glory and presence would visibly return to the temple, just as it had visibly descended upon the tabernacle in Exodus and the first temple built by Solomon. And here, Simeon says his “eyes have seen” God’s salvation and glory, but he’s looking at the child in his arms, not the building behind them. He is declaring Jesus to be God’s true temple, the vessel of his presence, and the visible manifestation of his glory.Building on this, he argues that Jesus will reveal God to the nations. This is what the Old Testament prophets said the new, more glorious temple would do. The temple would be a light that draws the Gentiles, and the nations would stream into the house of the Lord (see Isaiah 2:1-5). By applying this language to Jesus, Simeon is underscoring that this child is the true temple of God.The second person in the courtyard seals the temple theology that Luke is trying to communicate. Anna was a prophet who never left the temple, and she “spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). That’s an odd phrase to our modern, American ears. What does “the redemption of Jerusalem” mean? This is exile language. God’s people had returned to the city, rebuilt its walls, and constructed a new temple, but they were still in a state of exile because God’s presence had not yet returned. Anna, like Simeon, understood that the arrival of Jesus at the temple was the long-awaited return of God’s glory and the true restoration of Israel from their long captivity. Recognizing the temple language in this chapter and putting these events within the context of Israel’s exile and restoration helps us better grasp the true meaning of Jesus’ birth. He is the fulfillment of the whole narrative of the Hebrew Bible; he is what the entire Old Testament has been building toward. Likewise, it helps us avoid a common misreading of the Bible, in which some Christians believe that the Old Testament temple prophecies remain unfulfilled. They argue that we should still expect the construction of another temple in Jerusalem, which will be filled with God’s glory, and the reinstatement of another sacrificial system that will usher in the last days. But the gospel writers are practically shouting to us, “No!” All of those prophecies have been fulfilled in Jesus. He is the new temple that was promised, he is the presence of the Lord who now dwells among us, and he is the glory of the invisible God. To place these expectations on some future construction project in the Middle East is to miss the whole message of the New Testament. DAILY SCRIPTURE LUKE 2:22-33 LUKE 2:36-38 WEEKLY PRAYER from Clement of Alexandria (c.150 – c.215) Be kind to your little children, Lord. Be a gentle teacher, patient with our weakness and stupidity. And give us the strength and discernment to do what you tell us, and so grow in your likeness. Amen.

Biblical scholars Jennifer Garcia Bashaw and Aaron Higashi point out the difficulties that arise if Christians try to read the Genesis creation stories literally:  

It can be difficult to fully appreciate the seven-day schema of creation in Genesis 1 when we’re reading the text in the modern world, where the sciences all attest to an earth that formed over billions of years. Many people in fact feel uncomfortable with this apparent contradiction….

Indeed, there are many Bible readers who, out of a sense of loyalty to a literal-historical understanding of Genesis 1, feel compelled to deny the conclusions of modern sciences. But this feeling is unnecessary because Genesis 1–2:3 does not claim to be a literal-historical text. Rather, it’s a part of a common genre of ancient religious literature known as the creation myth, which is not intended to be a historical representation of events.

The second creation story in Genesis contradicts much of the first. Garcia Bashaw and Higashi show how both are needed: 

In Genesis 1, God is a transcendent being who creates the world through acts of speech in a structured process where each step is already anticipating the next. In Genesis 1, God is so successful in creating the world that each day is called good, and God can rest at the end, certain that everything is working as intended.

In Genesis 2, we see something different. In this passage, God is a human-like being who creates by forming things with God’s own hands and breathing life into them. The process in Genesis 2 is fraught with setbacks, where God discovers man’s loneliness isn’t good. God proceeds to make animals to try to fix that loneliness, and then makes Eve because the animals don’t suffice.

In addition to the chapters’ portrayals of God, the stories flatly contradict each other in their orders of creation. In Genesis 1, vegetation is created before animals, then animals are created before men and women, who are made at the same time. But in Genesis 2:4 and following, Adam is created before any vegetation, then animals are created before Eve.…

In many ways, the Bible does us a favor by beginning with two contradictory stories. In so doing, the Bible signals to us at the outset what this text actually is: a diverse collection of religious traditions that have been brought together by different communities of faith over a long period of time…. When you read the Bible, you’re reading an anthology of ancient religious literature—not a textbook, not an instructional manual, not a love letter from God, and not a complete work of systematic theology.

Now, just because it’s an anthology of ancient religious literature doesn’t mean it can’t be inspired by God, or say true things about God, or be helpful in trying to understand God. Its being an anthology just means that whatever is in it that is true, inspired, or helpful will come through in many, sometimes conflicting, voices.

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JAN 13, 2026 Preparing for the Presence to Return

The Old Testament book of Ezekiel records a vision of God’s presence departing from the temple in Jerusalem. Remember, God warned the people repeatedly that their sin and idolatry represented a rebellion against his covenant, and Israel’s calling to mediate God’s presence to the world would be broken. That break comes in Ezekiel 10 when God’s glory moves from the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the temple. Then, in Ezekiel 11, his glory leaves the temple through the east gate of Jerusalem and departs from the city entirely. The year was 586 BC. Generations passed, the exiles slowly returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, they rebuilt the city, and they constructed a new temple. But God’s presence never returned; the covenant was not reconstituted as the prophets had foretold. For centuries, the people waited for the return of YHWH’s glory and for his presence to dwell among them again. This hope changes how we read the opening chapters of the New Testament. For example, after the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and confirmed that Mary’s pregnancy was from the Holy Spirit, Matthew says: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us.’)” (Matthew 1:22-23).By citing this verse from Isaiah, Matthew linked Jesus’ birth to the long-awaited return of God’s presence among his people. According to the gospel, Jesus’ arrival is the glory of God that departed the temple in Ezekiel 10-11, now returning to finally end their long exile. This view is reinforced by the opening of Mark’s gospel. Speaking about John the Baptist, Mark identifies him by also quoting from Isaiah: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way—a voice calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for YHWH, make straight paths for him” (Mark 1:2-3 and Isaiah 40:3). The text from Isaiah goes on to say, “And the glory of YHWH will be revealed, and all people will see it together” (Isaiah 40:5). To Jews living under Roman occupation in the first century, and who’ve been waiting for YHWH’s glory to return for hundreds of years, Mark’s message would have been both clear and shocking. The time had finally come. God’s presence had finally returned to dwell once again among his people. But this time his glory would not reside in the hidden inner chamber of a building, but in a man from Nazareth. DAILY SCRIPTURE EZEKIEL 10:18-19 ISAIAH 40:1-5 WEEKLY PRAYER. from Clement of Alexandria (c.150 – c.215) Be kind to your little children, Lord. Be a gentle teacher, patient with our weakness and stupidity. And give us the strength and discernment to do what you tell us, and so grow in your likeness. Amen.

In the Beginning

A Brilliant Start

Sunday, January 11, 2026 

READ ON CAC.ORG

Feast of the Baptism of Jesus

Father Richard Rohr describes how the creation story found in the book of Genesis is good news: 

Genesis is the first book in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. It’s neither the oldest, nor the first Jewish Scripture written down, but its brilliance gets us off to a very good start. The Genesis creation story is really quite extraordinary when compared to other creation stories of its time. Some peoples envision creation happening by spontaneous combustion, or emerging out of a hole in the ground, or through a mythological figure, or even through an act of violence. But our creation story declares that we were created in the very “image and likeness” of God, and out of generative love (Genesis 1:27, 9:6). This starts us out on an absolutely positive and hopeful foundation.

The first act of divine revelation is creation itself. The very first Bible is nature, which was written about 13.8 billion years ago, at the moment that we call the Big Bang, long before the Bible of words. God initially speaks through what is, as we see Paul affirming in Romans 1:20: “Ever since God created the world, God’s everlasting power and deity—however invisible—have been there for the mind to see in the things God has made.” 

The biblical account tells us God creates the world developmentally over six days, almost as if there were an ancient intuition of what we would eventually call evolution. Clearly creation happened over time. The only strict theological assertion of the Genesis story is that God started it all. The exact how, when, and where is not the author’s concern. [1]

This creation story, which some modern scholars think was written down nearly five hundred years before Jesus lived, has no intention or ability to be a scientific account. It’s an inspired account of the source, meaning, and original goodness of creation. Thus, it is indeed “true.” Both Western rationalists and religious fundamentalists must stop confusing true with that which is literal, chronological, or visible to the narrow spectrum of the human eye. Many assume the Bible is an exact snapshot—as if caught on camera—of God’s involvement on Earth. But if God needed such literalism, God would have waited for the 19th century of the Common Era to start talking and revealing through “infallible” technology. [2]

Science often affirms what were for centuries the highly suspect intuitions of the Scriptures and mystics. We now take it for granted that everything in the universe is deeply connected and linked, even light itself, which interestingly is the first act of creation (Genesis 1:3). Objects—even galaxies!—throughout the entire known universe are in orbits and cycle around something else. There’s no such thing in the whole universe as autonomy. It doesn’t exist. That’s the illusion of the modern, individualistic West, which imagines the autonomous self to be the basic building block and the true Seer. [3]

 In the Beginning

An Intimate Origin Story

Monday, January 12, 2026

Brian McLaren reflects on the miraculous creation of the cosmos and everything in it: 

The first and greatest surprise—a miracle, really—is this: that anything exists at all…. The first pages of the Bible and the best thinking of today’s scientists are in full agreement: it all began in the beginning, when space and time, energy and matter, gravity and light, burst or bloomed or banged into being. In light of the Genesis story, we would say that the possibility of this universe overflowed into actuality as God, the Creative Spirit, uttered the original joyful invitation: Let it be! And in response, what happened? Light. Time. Space. Matter. Motion. Sea. Stone. Fish. Sparrow. You. Me. Enjoying the unspeakable gift and privilege of being here, being alive….

Genesis means “beginnings.” It speaks through deep, multilayered poetry and wild, ancient stories. The poetry and stories of Genesis reveal deep truths that can help us be more fully alive today. They dare to proclaim that the universe is God’s self-expression, God’s speech act. That means that everything everywhere is always essentially holy, spiritual, valuable, meaningful. All matter matters.

Through the book of Genesis we encounter a story of goodness and interconnectedness.

Genesis tells us that the universe is good—a truth so important it gets repeated like the theme of a song…. Every river or hill or valley or forest is good. Skin? Good. Bone? Good. Mating and eating and breathing and giving birth and growing old? Good, good, good. All are good. Life is good.

The best thing in Genesis is not simply human beings, but the whole creation considered and enjoyed together, as a beautiful, integrated whole, and us a part. The poetry of Genesis describes the “very goodness” that comes at the end of a long process of creation … when all the parts, including us, are working together as one whole. That harmonious whole is so good that the Creator takes a day off, as it were, just to enjoy it. That day of restful enjoyment tells us that the purpose of existence isn’t money or power or fame or security or anything less than this: to participate in the goodness and beauty and aliveness of creation….  

According to the first creation story, you are part of creation. You are made from common soil … dust, Genesis says; stardust, astronomers tell us … soil that becomes watermelons and grain and apples and peanuts, and then, they become food, and then that food becomes you…. Together with all living things, you share the breath of life, participating in the same cycles of birth and death, reproduction and recycling and renewal. You, with them, are part of the story of creation—different branches on the tree of life. In that story, you are connected and related to everything everywhere. In fact, that is a good partial definition of God: God is the one through whom we are related and connected to everything.

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JAN 12, 2026 The Enduring Exile

Throughout the Old Testament, we’ve seen a repeated pattern. First, God desires to dwell among his people. If you recall, this is the primary definition of a temple in the ancient Near East. A temple is where a deity dwells. In Genesis, God dwelt with the man and woman in Eden. In Exodus, God descended upon Mount Sinai to meet with Moses and give instructions to the Israelites—including plans for the construction of the tabernacle where God’s presence would dwell with them. Later, during Solomon’s reign, a permanent temple was built in Jerusalem. Again, the presence of God filled that special place with his presence.The second part of this Old Testament pattern is the repeated failure of God’s people to fulfill their calling as mediators of God’s presence. They were to be priests who represented God to the world, but Adam and Eve failed to keep the serpent, an unclean animal, out of the garden/temple in Eden. When its uncleanness spread to them, the man and woman rebelled against God and rejected their priestly calling. The story of the Israelites is also one of repeated disobedience and idolatry. The Lord repeatedly warned them that their special calling to be “a royal priesthood” would be revoked if they did not uphold their covenant to represent his character to the world. Of course, they didn’t, which leads to the third part of the pattern. When the people persistently rebelled against their priestly vocation to represent God, his presence departed from them, and the temple space was abandoned or destroyed. For example, the man and woman were expelled from the garden/temple east of Eden and prevented from returning. Much later, the same pattern is repeated when God’s presence departed from the temple in Jerusalem, foreign armies invaded the city, destroyed the temple, and God’s rebellious people were carried into exile in Babylon in the east.The exile in Babylon appeared to be the end of God’s efforts to dwell among his people. After all, their priestly calling to represent God was impossible without his presence and without a temple. But hope was not lost. Amid their exile, through the prophets, God promised to reboot his covenant with Israel. He vowed that a remnant would return to the land, a new and more glorious temple would arise, and that his presence would dwell among them once again. And this time, the pattern would not repeat because the people would not rebel against this new covenant. But by the end of the Old Testament, things were in an awkward state. On the positive side, many Jews had returned from exile and reoccupied the Promised Land, and a new temple had been rebuilt in Jerusalem in 516 BC. However, on the negative side, God’s people remained under the control of foreign, pagan rulers. The new temple was not nearly as beautiful as the previous one. And most concerning of all, God’s presence had not returned to fill it with his glory. Remember, a temple is only a temple if God’s presence is there. Without it, all of the priests, the sacrifices, and the rituals were just cosplay. The people were just pretending that things were back to normal. In truth, they were still in a state of exile.When would God fulfill his promises? When would the prophecies regarding Israel’s full restoration be fulfilled? When would a more spectacular temple arise and his presence return to dwell among them? These questions lingered over the people for centuries. Some Jews took matters into their own hands by waging war against their foreign overlords. It didn’t work. One pagan empire was simply replaced by another. Then, Herod the Great undertook a building project in 20 BC to massively expand the temple in the hope of fulfilling the prophecy. Herod’s temple was impressive, but God’s presence did not return. The state of exile persisted; the purpose of Israel remained on hold.This was the condition of things at the opening of the New Testament. And in the coming days, we will look at how our understanding of Jesus’ arrival changes when we read it through this Old Testament temple theology. DAILY SCRIPTURE ISAIAH 2:1-4 JEREMIAH 31:31-34 WEEKLY PRAYER. from Clement of Alexandria (c.150 – c.215) Be kind to your little children, Lord. Be a gentle teacher, patient with our weakness and stupidity. And give us the strength and discernment to do what you tell us, and so grow in your likeness. Amen.

A Thirst for the Good News

Friday, January 9, 2026

If you don’t go to the well, you cannot draw water. You must make yourself present and available to receive the living water God so freely gives. We must go to the well!
—Barbara Harris, Parting Words

Drawing on the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:5–29), Episcopal Bishop Barbara Harris (1930–2020) describes how encountering Jesus offers each of us an opportunity to make a choice for wisdom:

I think this strange story of the woman at the well has some clear messages for us as we stand at our individual [and collective] crossroads and ponder the choices of life in a vain world that is no friend to grace; messages for us as we consider ourselves emerging people of Christ’s kingdom; messages for us when we, like the woman at the well, realize that while we are not yet what we should be, thank God we are not what we were. We are different because God has touched our lives; different because we realize we can learn from all God’s people even from such folk as the Samaritan woman.

When we encounter the good news of Jesus, we can choose to participate in the reign of God.

My friends, we thirst after many things in this world. We thirst after money, power, prestige, position. We put our trust in them; we may even pray for them. But like our Lord, we are at a crossroads in the church and in society. We still have a choice and the question our Lord is asking us is, “Do we have a thirst for the kingdom?”

Jesus is asking us, “Are we content to settle for the temporary thirst quenchers of life: the material values of this world, the right connections, the proper credentials, the things on which this society places so much value, things that will never slake the thirst of your parched, dry souls? Or do you thirst for righteousness, for peace, for justice, for the liberation of all God’s people?”

Do we thirst for those things that make for a just society as Jesus proclaimed the kingdom to be? If we gave our testimony today would we sing with the psalmist, “As the deer longs for the water-brooks, so longs my soul for you, O God”? (Psalm 42:1, BCP) Or would we sing with the elders: “I heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘Behold, I freely give the living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink and live!’ I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him.” [1]

Do we have a thirst for the living water with which God truly enriches our lives? Do we have a thirst for the kingdom? Do we have a thirst to emerge as truly faithful Christians, to be more than we are? Each of us must respond for himself or herself. Do we have a thirst for the kingdom? Jesus is patiently waiting for our answer.

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John Chaffee 5 On Friday

1.

“People forget facts… but they remember stories.”

– Joseph Campbell, American Mythologist

Perhaps this is one of the reasons Jesus chose to predominantly teach through parables.

Back in 2022, I self-published my first book, What’s Another Word for Parable?  It was a collection of about 60 parables I created after being inspired by a movie, book, Scripture, passing idea, etc.  It was a fun exercise to be creative in such a fashion and use words to paint a story.  To this day, if someone were to say the title of one of my parables, my memory brings the whole thing back to me.  It is fascinating how powerful stories are!

2.

“Toxic cultures never keep healthy people.”

– Carey Nieuwhof, Church Consultant

I guess the inverse is also true?

Healthy cultures never keep toxic people.

After hearing this week’s news about Philip Yancey’s (a rather famous Christian author) confession of an 8-year affair, I have come back to particular thoughts about healthy spirituality.

I am also led to believe that celebrity culture is unhealthy for any one of us.  We all know the classic story of Hollywood celebrities imploding, but it should not surprise us how many “Christian celebrities” also implode.  The only problem is that they often espouse a particular morality that you think they wouldn’t give in to such a thing, but they do.

The only difference is that Hollywood celebrities never even put themselves on a moral high ground, which makes their potential fall feel less hypocritical.

As I understand it, healthy cultures tell toxic people they must either leave or get their act together, and it benefits all people involved.  And, on the other side, toxic cultures will shame, exclude, or scapegoat healthy people because their sheer existence highlights the toxicity of the culture.

I am not sure what I am trying to say here, but perhaps it is this: Let’s do everything we can to stay healthy and holy in the proper way.

3.

“The contemplative journey, because it involves the purification of the unconscious, is not a magic carpet to bliss. It is an exercise of letting go of the false self, a humbling process, because it is the only self we know.”

– Thomas Keating, Trappist Monk

I am utterly convinced that deep, meaningful, contemplative Christian spirituality is humbling.  It is not triumphant, nor is it showcasing anything.  Authentic spirituality is quiet and patient; it slowly forces us to confront all the worst parts of ourselves with courageous grace (or gracious courage).

When I see a particular interpretation of Christian spirituality that is loud, brash, and couched completely in the language of warfare or conflict, I am immediately turned off.

As I have gotten older, the image of a gardener has taken a stronger hold.  The gardener is tender, methodical, intentional, yes, but also decisive, ripping out roots that do not belong, and deliberately planting certain seeds at the right time to harvest beauty.

I just love that Keating says spirituality is “no magic carpet to bliss.”

4.

“The fools of the world will be doing cartwheels while the righteous will be walking in, overly concerned if they are singing on key.“

– Flannery O’Connor, American Novelist

As the Scripture says, “The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” (Matthew 20:16)

5.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

– JRR Tolkien in The Fellowship of the Ring

The lovely wife and I have been rewatching The Lord of the Rings.  Originally, the goal was to watch the whole trilogy between Christmas and New Year’s, but that did not happen.  Watching it each year has been a tradition for me for more than a decade.  Without exaggeration, the movies are my comfort movies.  On bad days, sick days, or snow days, I would put them on in the background, and I make no apologies for it.

I believe that we are shaped by the stories we tell, and I am more than okay with the fact that The Lord of the Rings is a story that I enjoy so much.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo laments that the Ring of Power (created by the evil Sauron) has fallen to him as a responsibility to destroy.  In response, Gandalf says the above.

One thing that I wish people understood about fantasy and even science fiction is that they are not really about wizards, dragons, sand worms, robots, lightsabers, starships, elves, Hutts, or Balrogs.  Those things are simply vehicles or narrative devices for saying something about friendship, commitment, goodness, beauty, truth, love, sacrifice, nobility, decency, liberation, rebellion, integrity, and so much more.

I think that The Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time because it addresses the deepest aspects of what it means to be alive.

What Bible Do We Read?

Thursday, January 8, 2026

We do not all follow the same Jesus. We also do not all read the same Bible.  
—Whitney Wilkinson Arreche, “Talking Book”

Minister and theologian Whitney Wilkinson Arreche compares the Bible that was preached to enslaved Africans with the good news they encountered while worshipping in clandestine hush harbor gatherings:

When enslaved Africans were taught the Bible, it was a heavily redacted version. The Exodus was removed, as was most of the Old Testament. References to racial unity disappeared, as did the entire book of Revelation. Scripture was butchered by white supremacy, leaving only what was good news to white people. Masters and pastors charged with the spiritual “care” of enslaved persons instead leaned heavily upon Paul…. Scripture was also forced into a sort of smiling compliance: writings about slaves obeying masters were elevated to supra-canonical status. This slave Bible was unequivocal when it came to obedience and submission…. 

In the hush harbors, enslaved Africans taught one another a different Bible. They pointed to and created a new reality. Through story-songs, they learned of an Exodus where the liberation of enslaved people was God’s primary concern. As Noel Erskine writes, “Down in the hush arbors, enslaved people … learned early to gather to worship and strategize under the cover of night or under the cover of the woods where a redefinition of their status took place.” [1] Under cover, hidden in plain sight for those with eyes to see, they learned of prophets who called out greed, especially money gained through unjust means. They learned of a Jesus who was very different from that so-called “good” ship [named “Jesus” used in the Transatlantic Slave Trade]; a Jesus who, like his mother, cast down the mighty from their thrones, filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty (Luke 1:46–55). They learned of a fire-in-the-bones Spirit poured out on all flesh, even and especially enslaved flesh (Acts 2:1–21). They learned of a Revelation of all that is wrong being turned upside down, in a flourishing garden not tended by enslaved labor (Revelation 22). This talking book was the antidote to slavery’s prooftexted shouting.  

Arreche cautions us against reading Scripture in oppressive ways:

That antidote is still sorely needed in a church and theology that continues to perpetuate the prooftexted lies of white supremacy. These lies come in many forms. They appear as an overrepresentation of Paul’s words, particularly his words about submission and obedience. They also appear as ideas that the New Testament renders the Old obsolete, or worse, evil….

If we only read, teach, and preach the New Testament, particularly when we heavily center the writings attributed to Paul, we are perpetuating a plantation church ethic of Scripture. If, instead, we center narratives of liberation and survival, refusing to sanitize Jesus and refusing to spiritualize physical freedom, we get closer to the hush harbor. We get closer to the power of the Talking Book. We get closer to what can actually be called gospel—good news.  

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Sarah Young, Jesus Calling

Jesus Calling: January 8

Softly I announce My Presence. Shimmering hues of radiance tap gently at your consciousness, seeking entrance. Though I have all Power in heaven and on earth, I am infinitely tender with you. The weaker you are, the more gently I approach you. Let your weakness be a door to My presence. Whenever you feel inadequate, remember that I am your ever-present Help.

     Hope in Me, and you will be protected from depression and self-pity. Hope is like a golden cord connecting you to heaven. The more you cling to this cord, the more I hear the weight of your burdens; thus, you are enlightened. Heaviness is not of My kingdom. Cling to hope, and My rays of Light will reach you through the darkness.

RELATED SCRIPTURE: 

Psalm 46:1 NLT

Psalm 46

For the choir director: A song of the descendants of Korah, to be sung by soprano voices.[a]

1 God is our refuge and strength,

    always ready to help in times of trouble.

Romans 12:12 NLT

12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

Romans 15:13 NLT

13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

_______________________________________

Key questions for reflection:

Where have I learned a version of Scripture that emphasized control, compliance, or silence—and where do I sense Jesus inviting me toward a more liberating “good news”?

---

As truth is being uncovered—personally or collectively—what does it look like for me to cling to hope as a ‘golden cord,’ trusting Jesus to be both gentle with my weakness and faithful to bring light?

“Jesus, what do you want me to know or remember today about who you are… and who I am becoming?”

Revelation and Transformation

Wednesday, January 7, 2026 

Father Richard Rohr describes the Bible as a source of ongoing revelation and transformation:

This marvelous anthology of books and letters called the Bible is for the sake of divine transformation (theosis), not intellectual or “small-self” coziness or even righteousness. The biblical revelation invites us into a genuinely new experience. Wonderfully enough, human consciousness in the twenty-first century is, more than ever, ready for such an experience—and also very much in need of it! The trouble is that we have made the Bible into a bunch of ideas—about which we can be right or wrong—rather than an invitation to a new set of eyes. Even worse, many of those ideas are the same old, tired ones, mirroring the reward-and-punishment system of the dominant culture, so that most people don’t even expect anything good or new from the momentous revelation that we call the Bible.

The very word that the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and the apostle Paul chose to name this new revelation was a strange one. Gospel, which we now translate as “good news,” was actually a word taken from a world dominated by wars and battles. A “gospel” was a returning message of victory, announcing a new era to the winning party. Obviously, Jesus’s message was seen as something genuinely good and genuinely new. This is still true today—if we are asking the right questions and have a “poverty of spirit” (Matthew 5:3).

I’m sure there are times when many of us wish the Bible were some kind of “seven habits for highly effective people.” Just give us the right conclusions, we’ve perhaps thought, instead of all these books of kings, Levitical teachings, chronicles of various battles, and those Pauline letters that so many of us don’t like. “What does all this monotonous history, out-of-date science, and flat-out violence have to do with anything that matters?” That’s why an awful lot of people give up on the Bible.

But the genius of the biblical revelation is that it doesn’t just give us the conclusions! It gives us both the process of getting there and the inner and outer authority to trust that process. Life itself—and Scripture too—is always three steps forward and two steps backward. It gets the point and then loses it or doubts it. In that, the biblical text mirrors our own human consciousness and journey.

We always need what Jesus described as the beginner’s mind of a curious child. What some call a constantly renewed immediacy is the best path for spiritual wisdom. If our only concerns are for the spiritual status of our group, or our private “social security” plans, the Scriptures will not be new, nor will they be good, or even attractive. We will proceed on cruise control, even after reading them. They will be “religion” as we have come to expect it in our particular culture, but not any genuine “good news” with the power to rearrange everything.

Dear friend, As we stand at the beginning of a new year, many of us are asking familiar questions—sometimes quietly, sometimes urgently.  What do I want this year to bring?What needs to change?What should I resolve? Often, our resolutions are attempts to name our thirst. And thirst has a way of clarifying things. When you are utterly parched, the answer to the question “What do you want?” does not require much reflection. Thirst narrows our focus. It reminds us of what is essential—of the life-giving water we usually take for granted until we begin to run dry. Not surprisingly, this is also the very first question Jesus asks in the Gospel of John. When Jesus turns to the disciples of John the Baptist and asks, “What do you want?” he assumes something important about them—and about us. He assumes that we are people of desire. Of longing. He does not shame this or attempt to correct it. He simply names it. How could we not be people of desire? Jesus himself tells us that if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must become like little children. And children have no lack of wanting.Every baby enters the world hungry and thirsty—for nourishment, yes, but also for comfort and connection. Newborns, infants, and toddlers are unselfconscious bundles of desire. And this depth of wanting does not fade with age. It only becomes quieter, more hidden, more carefully managed. Desire itself does not disappear until we are dead. So the question is not whether we want. The question is what we want. But here is something we often miss: no matter what children ask for—milk, a toy, a set of car keys, or the love of their beloved—the object of their desire is almost always a bid for loving attachment. Beneath the request is a longing to be received, to be responded to with attunement. Even when the answer must be “no,” what matters is that the wanting itself is honored. As Dan Siegel reminds us, these longings can be named with four simple words. We want to be seen, soothed, safe, and secure. These four “S” words describe what children—and adult children like us—desire more than anything else: to be known. And to be known in this way is to be loved. Loved with the joy that says, “You’re here!” every time we enter the room or cross someone else’s mind—even, and especially, on our worst days. And yet, most of us are not very skilled at being known. Which means we are not very skilled at receiving love. This does not mean we are incapable of loving others—though we all have room to grow there. It means that for many reasons, we struggle to let love actually reach us. And because we cannot give what we have not received, we turn to substitutes. Busyness. Achievement. Technology. Money. Control. Anxiety. These are the familiar stand-ins we have been perfecting since the Garden of Eden. For many of us, our lives have been so full that we barely noticed how much we relied on these things to make up for the emptiness that only love can fill. A new year has a way of exposing this. We hope that better habits or clearer goals will finally satisfy us. But resolutions alone cannot meet the longing to be seen, soothed, safe, and secure. Which brings us back—again—to Jesus’ question: What do you want?If we are honest, many of our answers are simply translations of a deeper plea. Just as it was when we were toddlers, telling Jesus what we want is another way of telling him how desperately we want to be loved. To be known. Jesus does not force us to say this. He waits. He waits for us to grow tired of our substitutions, to become honest enough to receive what we cannot manufacture. Jesus is not impatiently waiting for the right answer before he acts. He is waiting for us to allow him to love us. And when we do—something far easier said than done—we discover that the true object of our desire is not a what after all. It is a who. So how do we practice receiving the love we long for? Here are four straightforward, not-so-easy steps you might carry into this new year:  Twice each week, tell someone you genuinely love that you love them, and give them two concrete reasons why. Take at least ten minutes, and schedule the time.  Once a week, ask someone you trust to tell you why they love you, offering specific examples. This may feel uncomfortable—and that discomfort is part of the work. Receiving love is a skill we must practice.  Three times a week, choose a Gospel story in which Jesus demonstrates love. Imagine yourself there. Imagine Jesus including you in the conversation. Write down what he says to you and reflect on it.  Two to three times a week, meditate on Luke 3:22. Allow yourself to sit in the Father’s presence as he delights in being with you—without striving or earning. As this year unfolds, my hope is not simply that we would become better versions of ourselves, but that we would become people more deeply rooted in love. Because when we dare to receive that love, we may discover that what we desire—living, breathing, embodied joy—is also what we are becoming.And we will know that it is what we have always wanted. Warmly, Curt

Discussion Questions:

1. Rohr talks about the Bible as invitation to “a new set of eyes” rather than ideas to be right or wrong about. Curt talks about practicing the skill of receiving love. How do these two approaches—seeing differently and receiving differently—relate to each other? Where have you experienced this connection in your own journey?
2. Both readings acknowledge our tendency toward substitutes: Rohr mentions our desire for “seven habits” conclusions instead of the biblical process, while Curt names busyness, achievement, and control as stand-ins for love. What substitute are you most aware of relying on right now? What would it look like to trade that substitute for the real thing—whether it’s a new way of seeing Scripture or a new capacity to receive love?

Good News for a Fractured World

Revelation Calls Us to Act

Tuesday, January 6, 2026 

Feast of the Epiphany

Religious historian Diana Butler Bass invites readers to take a clear-eyed look at the world around us and how we participate in its healing or harm: 

Right now, we think it is hard to look at the world. It is difficult to watch the news, open social media, read a newspaper. All that division and anger and confusion and suffering and fear and pain. Authoritarianism, injustice, mass murder, starvation, war, genocide … every single day I fear what I may see. 

But if being a follower of Christ invites us to be Christ’s hands and feet, are we not also Christ’s eyes?

What does God see when God looks at the world?

Certainly, God sees sin, sorrow, the shame, the pity, the terror, and the sheer horror of it all. The pathos of the world….

God sees beyond, through, and past the covering of the fig leaves. God sees creation “without deceit.” God beholds the world as it really is, a beloved community, a feast of abundance, sparkling in the light and glory of love.

And God invites us to see that goodness also—with our own eyes. To see differently, looking beyond, under, through, and past the shadows.

There are some among us who see the world—those prophets, saints, and heroes we admire—the visionaries in history and the rare ones in our midst. People like Martin Luther King Jr., a follower, a dreamer, a man with vision.

When they ask us to come and see, many respond. And then we go and do. Come and see. Go and do likewise.

But seeing isn’t only for visionaries. Every person called to follow is called, first and foremost, to come and see. The Light dwells with all of us, opening our eyes. The Light widens the circle of welcome. We are all seers. The Light beckons: Come and see.

What do you see today? [1]

Butler Bass connects our ability to see and to act with the Christian celebration of the Epiphany:

January 5 is the twelfth and final day of Christmas. On January 6, the Christian calendar turns to a new season: Epiphany….

The Wise Men awaited a sign in the sky—a star—to guide them on this journey. Revelations break in, signs appear in dreams, light shines forth, and glory hovers all around. Such things are from the realms of miracle, awe, and wonder. They surprise and disrupt the normal course of existence. Epiphanies are not of our making.

But it would be a mistake to believe that we are only passive recipients of epiphanies. We need to be alert for their arrival…. Revelations can be missed if one isn’t attentive or attuned to the possibilities of sacred surprise….

We cannot create epiphanies, but, like the Wise Men, we can respond to them. Epiphanies grab a hold of us; we can’t shake them. Epiphanies beckon. The star invites; it calls to the attentive to do something—to act.

The Magi and I

A Post for Epiphany

BRIAN ZAHND

JAN 06, 2026

Today is the Epiphany—the commemoration of the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles in the persons of the Magi. I thought I’d share a favorite poem with you (T.S. Eliot’s Journey of the Magi) and my own semi-poetic reflection upon it.

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Journey of the Magi
by T.S. Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times when we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities dirty and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wineskins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

The Magi and I
by Brian Zahnd

An old Magi remembers his difficult journey from long ago.
A hard time we had of it
He doesn’t regret it. He says—
I would do it again
But…

Finding the King of the Jews came with a price.
To be a witness of this Birth was to also experience a particular Death.
(The Magi had thought birth and death were different, but came find out otherwise.)
Once you get even an inkling of what it really means that Jesus is King—
Nothing is ever quite the same. Some things will die. For sure.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensations,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
Ain’t it the truth!

I know that when I really began to see the Kingdom of God for what it is—
Cherished assumptions about the nation and life I call mine had to die.
I was no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation.

When the Magi made their way home, we’re told they went by “another way.”
Of course they did.
Once you see the King, once you have the Epiphany—
You have to travel through this life by “another way.”
(Or betray all you have been granted to see.)
And to an “alien people clutching their gods”—
You will seem at best odd, and at worse…well, something quite bad.
Truth doesn’t come cheap.
The hard journey to a real Epiphany will cost you more than some…
Gold, frankincense and myrrh.
It will cost you the way you look at the world.
Something will have to die. And you may well mourn it.
To really see the birth of Christ for what it is,
Will bring you face to face with death—
Death to what you were once so comfortable with.

Eliot’s Magi concludes his memoir with this enigmatic line—
I should be glad of another death.
What does Eliot mean by that?
I’m not entirely sure, but I think he means his Magi to say something like this:
I’m ready even for more,
More Epiphanies,
More Births,
More Stars in the East…
Which will of course lead to more Deaths.
That’s the way it works.
The birth of truth is death to the lie—
And there are a lot of lies we’ve leaned to love and cherish.
The price of truth may be the willingness to endure a certain sorrow—
The sorrow that comes from the death of a loved and cherished lie.

Do you have any idea what I’m saying?
If you think finding Christ means nothing more than adding him to your life—
(as one would add an insurance policy with death benefits to their life)
—you haven’t yet had the real Epiphany, the Epiphany the old magi speaks of.

Christ is not something that will nicely accommodate your cherished assumptions.
Christ is the most radical thing that has ever happened to this world.
To see Christ as Christ, the King of the Jews who is now King of the World—
Is to realize that Caesar is not Lord, Pharaoh is not Lord, but Jesus is Lord.

Jesus cannot be owned or incorporated or subsumed into any other nation—
Not Babylon, not Egypt, not Rome, not Russia, not England, not America.
Jesus is building his own nation (kingdom)—it’s the Kingdom of God.
Christ does not come to endorse any nation—he comes to set up his own.
But the nations of the world—all of them!—will resist this.

Because every nation insists that national sovereignty trumps everything.
As long as nations believe that their national sovereignty trumps everything—
They’ll be at war with Christ. Christ insists that his lordship trumps everything!

So to see the birth of Christ for the Epiphany it is—
Is not only to witness a Birth, it is to encounter a Death:
The death of loved and cherished lies. (Oh yes, there are lies we dearly love!)

What are these lies? I can’t tell you. You love them too much.
You have to see these lies as lies for yourself.
But I can tell you what will happen when you see the lies…

When you see the lies, you’ll no longer be at home in Babylon.
(All the nations of the world insisting on their own sovereignty add up to one big Babylon.)
To have the Epiphany of which I speak will make you an alien in your own land.

As Eliot said, you will no longer be at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
The old magi says, “I should be glad of another death.”
What about you? Are you ready for the Birth of the New?—
If it means the Death of the Old?

BZ

Reflective Questions:

1. What “cherished lies” or “things of earth” have grown strangely dim for you as your eyes have turned more fully toward Jesus? What has this cost you, and what has it given you?
2. Butler Bass asks, “What do you see today?” when you look at the world with Christ’s eyes. Zahnd reminds us that this seeing makes us aliens in our own land. How are you being called to both see and act on what you see, even when it disrupts your comfort or belonging?

Sunday, January 4, 2026

READ ON CAC.ORG

CAC faculty member Brian McLaren introduces the 2026 Daily Meditationstheme: “Good News for a Fractured World.”

Our world is deeply fractured. We see the symptoms all around us. We see it in politics. We see it in social media. We see it in our families and denominations. Those fractures couldn’t come at a worse time. We need to come together as never before to address our environmental and climate crises, to resist authoritarian movements that have the power of billionaires, the power of social media and AI, at their disposal to divide us further and further. We need to come together to explore better ways of living with ourselves, with one another, and with this sacred beautiful earth.

But just when we need to come together, we see ourselves fracturing and retreating into our opposite corners of isolation, our little echo chambers, where we only hear what we want to hear, which often is the opposite of what we need to hear. These fractures make us feel afraid and sometimes depressed, reactive, and paralyzed, and soon we feel ourselves being sucked into being part of the disease instead of part of the healing.

For spiritually alive people, for people of deep and genuine faith, we don’t want to surrender to despair and cynicism, reactivity and fragmentation. We want to be healed and empowered, so we can participate in healing and empowering other people.  [1]

Many people today feel disillusioned by the divisions that Christianity has helped create. Yet even amid this fracturing, faithful people are reimagining what it means to follow Jesus with compassion and courage.

Across every traditional Christian denomination, there are widespread calls for change. Imaginative scholars, liturgists, organizers, networkers, and pastors are creating resources and spaces for beautiful new things to be born….

These redeemers of Christianity are out there, by the hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands. Catholic and Protestant, Pentecostal and Mainline, Eastern Orthodox and other … I know them. Some are heads of communions, bishops, seminary presidents, and professors, with well-known names, with best-selling books and big platforms. Some are pastors and church planters, leading and forming faith communities of all shapes, sizes, and denominations. Some are nuns, friars, Catholic workers, organizing for the common good. Some are podcasters, publishers, bloggers, producing creative content to help in the transition process. Some are artists, integrating needed truth with arresting beauty. Most are quiet people, living ordinary lives of extraordinary love and grace. When they’re attacked, they keep moving forward with humble, gracious confidence. When they’re discouraged, they find new inner strength. When they think about leaving Christianity, which probably happens quite often, they say, “Not today. Not me.” You know this is true, because there’s a good chance that you’re one of them….

It will never be perfect. Of course. It’s a human enterprise, and we humans complicate everything. But at least this emerging Christianity could become humble and teachable, curious and self-critical, creative and humane, diverse and harmonious.

——————————–

Finding Good News in the Bible

Monday, January 5, 2026

READ ON CAC.ORG

The good news or the living “Word of God” is personified in Jesus but is communicated throughout Scripture.
—Richard Rohr, The Great Themes of Scripture: Old Testament

For many of us, the Bible has been both a source of wisdom and a source of wounding. It has inspired liberation and love, just as it has also been used to justify domination and division. In 2026, we’ll return to this ancient text with open hearts and new eyes, exploring how it might again speak good news to a fractured world. Brian McLaren shares:

One of the weapons we see people use in our hostilities and fragmentation is the Bible. Many of us have been wounded by the Bible wielded as a weapon. Many of us have wielded the Bible as a weapon ourselves and wounded others. Many of us have just stayed away from the Bible entirely because it feels like something dangerous—a sharpened sword, a loaded gun, a ticking time bomb, a toxic recipe…. But if we learn to read the Bible in conversation with our honest experience and in light of our living traditions, we can learn and model a better way.  

Throughout the 2026 Daily Meditations, we will be looking at the Bible in new and fresh ways—as good news for a fractured world. Let me mention three of those new and fresh ways. First, we won’t read the Bible as if it were a divinely dictated book that descended out of heaven on a parachute. Instead, we will be reading the Bible as a set of precious literary artifacts that emerge in the unfolding story of humanity. We will take seriously the historical, social, ecological, economic, and political context of the Bible, and we will dig deep for needed ancient wisdom to help us today.  

Second, we won’t read the Bible as if it were a manual to help people dominate and exploit the earth and other people. It certainly has been and is being used in that way, but we will instead explore the Bible for inspiration—for creative and nonviolent resistance to that kind of domination and exploitation.  

And third, we won’t read the Bible as if it were an evacuation plan, preparing us to give up on the earth and be beamed up to heaven. Instead, we will explore the Bible as a prompt for both deep contemplation and for deep, loving action.

We will approach the Bible contemplatively, quieting our kneejerk reactions, exposing our deep-seated biases, challenging our untested assumptions, and leading us to see the divine in creation, in our own hearts, and in one another. And, especially in the life and teaching of Jesus, we will see a call to special kind of action in the world—nonviolent action, creative action, Christlike action where leadership looks like service and where the power of love outlasts and overcomes the love of power.

Discussion Questions for CoFew:

1. McLaren describes people who, when tempted to leave Christianity, say “Not today. Not me.” What keeps you showing up, even when the fractures feel overwhelming? When have you most needed to say those words?

2. The devotionals talk about reading the Bible with “open hearts and new eyes” – not as a weapon but as inspiration for nonviolent resistance. Where have you experienced the Bible being wielded as a weapon? How might we model that “better way” McLaren describes?

Dignity Is Non-Negotiable

Friday, January 2, 2026

Carlos Rodríguez, founder of The Happy Givers nonprofit based in Puerto Rico, shares how he was challenged to be salt and light for an elderly man:

Don Héctor was at the hospital. He had pneumonia and it was terrible… While he was at the hospital, a combination of my fear and my pride led me to not going to visit Don Héctor for a week as he was nearing the end of his life.

Don Héctor was an invitation that I was ignoring, so after a week of this internal struggle—of not being salt, of not being light—I challenged myself with some stern internal pastoring, some loving correction. I felt the invitation of the Spirit, not as accusation, not as condemnation, but as a frustration that became an invitation.

I went to see Don Héctor at the hospital. He was so happy to see us, and he immediately began to share the reality of being an elderly person in a hospital in Puerto Rico where we’re lacking doctors and nurses. The main thing he was frustrated with was the fact that he hadn’t had access to a shower for that whole week, and he took great pride in his appearance. I had this moment where his frustration became my invitation. I thought, “Okay, well, it’s time to give him a shower.” I was not honest with Don Héctor that day. I lied to him, and I said, “Don’t worry about it. I’m a pro at this. That’s part of what we do at the nonprofit.”

I took off his clothes, asked the nurse to show me what to do, and led him to a shower that was available. In what was quite possibly the most beautiful, the most awkward, and the holiest moment of my last year, I gave Don Héctor a shower. From the shame, it moved to a connection that was so meaningful to me. That in his most vulnerable moment, I was able to honor him….

There’s nothing like being salt and light. As Father Richard has said many times, “The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the good.” And giving Don Héctor a shower and spending time with him was the good….

We keep finding God in those showers. We keep finding God in these [things] that remind us of our childhood and our brokenness, but that also invite us into generational healing and transformation. There are so many good ethics and teachings and books, and there are so many good people speaking into microphones, but there’s nothing like just being present with the ones who need presence.

And so, for Don Héctor, who passed away a couple of weeks after that shower, and for every elderly person that we serve, and for every person in your community who is marginalized, who has been abandoned, who has been rejected, the invitation is to be salt and light. Salt, which both gives flavor and preserves, and light, which always shines brightest in the darkness.

________________________________________________

John Chaffee 5 On Friday

1.

“To follow Jesus is to be a wholemaker, essentially to love the world into new being and life.”

– Ilia Delio, Franciscan Theologian

Several years ago, I underwent a theological shift, seeing Jesus as a “whole-maker.”

Yes, Jesus secures our forgiveness on one level, but that happens along the way to wholeness.

In essence, my theological framework shifted from forgiveness to renewal, reconciliation, and restoration.  That which is broken can be made whole again; THAT became the focus.

This was a significant shift because it allowed me to begin noticing how particular interpretations of Christianity seek to fracture the world into parts, rather than seeing it as one seamless whole that God loves.  It allowed me to finally be able to name and critique how well-intentioned Christians are hurting the world by constantly falling into tribalism.

If any of us are going to follow Jesus, it must include being about the same goals as Christ, who sought to make the world whole again.

2.

“Some elders visited Abba Poeman and said to him, ‘What do you want us to do?  If we see brothers who are nodding off during synaxis, do we nudge them to keep them watchful during the night vigil?’

He said to him, ‘For my part, if I see a brother nodding off, I put his head in my lap and let him rest.'”

– Tim Vivian in Becoming Fire

This is from the book Becoming Fire.  It is a daily reading devotional-type book that compiles stories of the early desert mothers and fathers of the Church.  So far, it has been an enriching read.

What I enjoy about this story is that you might expect Abba Poeman to tell the elders to keep the other monks awake during service, but instead, he encourages them toward mercy.

3.

“Each organized religion comes with its own images of god full-blown.  They may inspire awe, love, fear, guilt, or doubt.  They may carry potent and life-restoring energies for a believer, or they may remain lifeless and inert for a skeptic.”

– Connie Zweig, Retired Psychotherapist

I remember hearing someone say that the image of God we carry in our heads can either terrify or comfort us.  That image is fascinating because it can both inspire us and judge us…  It can give us something to live up to, and at the same time, it can be something we feel condemns us for not living up to.

And this is where Christianity is groundbreaking: Our image of God does not condemn us for not living up to it; it forgives and reconciles us.

I don’t know how to communicate this any other way.  It is truly ground-breaking.  This God is far less concerned with judgment and condemnation than he is with restoration.

4.

“The monk is (at least ideally) a man who has responded to an authentic call of God to a life of freedom and detachment, a ‘desert life’ outside normal social structures.”

– Thomas Merton, Trappist Monk

It likely comes as no surprise to you that I have a part of my soul that feels rather monastic.  As an Enneagram 5, I am already prone to withdrawing in social situations and preferring the solace of solitude.

However, as a graduate of Eastern University, I have also been greatly influenced by Shane Claiborne and The Simple Way.  They are based in North Philly and seek to do “urban monasticism.”  Rather than seclude themselves from the rest of society, they seek to be monks in the center of a city.

Jim Finley, a former Trappist monk under Merton, has posited it this way: “Is there a way that I can maintain the internal posture of the monastery while living outside of its walls?”

I love that question.

I may not be a monk, but I can organize my life in a way that lends itself toward soulful reflection and a particular attentiveness to the subtlety of divine encounter.

5.

“The denunciation of injustice implies the rejection of the use of Christianity to legitimize the established order.”

– Gustavo Gutierrez, Peruvian Priest

This could also go well with the first quote from today.

Somewhere along the way, I started to see Christianity as a rebellious religion.  It has no affinity for or allegiance to any status quo.  No matter who is in power, it has a spiritual responsibility to speak truth to power and to push back against all the dehumanizing ways that we treat one another.

A Little Salt Goes a Long Way

Thursday, January 1, 2026

New Year’s Day

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
—Luke 14:34–35

Author Margaret Feinberg writes of the collective impact of bringing forward our own “salty” flavor for the healing of the world:

As the salt of the earth, we are agents of human flourishing. Jesus is calling us to be fertilizer in his kingdom. We are the salt poured on that which is foul in order to foster fresh, new life. We are created to help others blossom and bud as they pursue the life God intends. Flourishing lives demonstrate evidence of the kingdom of God.…

Sometimes the places Christ sends you will feel manure-like—the last places, the last people, the last situations you’d ever want to engage. Like Jonah, you may be tempted to resist the hardship, the discomfort, the awkwardness and stinkiness, to stay in your comfort zone. Yet, it’s your salty fertilizer that brings salvation to a dysfunctional and dying world.

And don’t forget the kind of salt the disciples used was harvested with its surrounding minerals. Those trace elements gave the salt its uniqueness. In the same way, God uses you with all your naturally harvested “minerals”—your specific upbringing and personality and giftings and weaknesses and quirks. God leverages everything from your past wounds to your everyday work as [God] sprinkles you … throughout the world.

Feinberg offers encouragement when the suffering of the world feels overwhelming:

For me, it’s hard to know where to begin some days. I become overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of needs that flood my inbox and mailbox, my texts and social media feeds. In search of how to find a way forward, I once stumbled on wisdom tucked into some ancient Jewish writings known as the Talmud. There it says that if someone is suffering and in need, and you can take away 1/60 of their pain, then that is goodness, and the call to help is from God. This is a powerful expression of our being the salt—the preservers, the flavorers, the fertilizers—of the earth.

The fraction—1/60—is loaded with freedom. This liberates us from the pressured thinking that whispers, Everything depends on you. Your one little grain of salt can help with something someone else’s grain can’t. And when all the grains get mixed and sprinkled together, preserving and flavoring and helping others flourish occurs everywhere.

None of us are meant to preserve the whole earth, flavor the whole world, flourish the entire planet on our own. Yet you can begin today by simply asking God to bring to mind someone for whom you can ease 1/60 of their pain.

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Sarah Young Jesus Calling

  Be still in the Light of My Presence, while I communicate Love to you. There is no force in the universe as powerful as My Love. You are constantly aware of limitations: your own and others’. But there is no limit to My Love; it fills all of space, time, and eternity.

    Now you see through a glass, darkly, but someday you will see Me face to Face. Then you will be able to experience fully how wide and long and high and deep is My Love for you. If you were to experience that now, you would be overwhelmed to the point of feeling crushed. But you have an eternity ahead of you, absolutely guaranteed, during when you can enjoy My Presence in unrestricted ecstasy. For now, the knowledge of My loving Presence is sufficient to carry you through each day.

RELATED SCRIPTURE: 

1st Corinthians 13:12 NLT

12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Ephesians 3:16-19

16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.