John Boehner Announces Retirement, Reminds Us to Keep Things in Perspective

I think this is something beautiful:

“Boehner Explains Retirement From House Speakership: ‘It’s A Wonderful Day’”

House Speaker John Boehner capitalized on the busiest news day in history to announce his retirement and drift queitly back to Ohio. He entered this Capitol Hill news conference singing a song.

“Last night I started thinking about this, and I woke up. I said my prayers as I always do, and I decided, you know, today’s the day I’m going to do this. As simple as that,” Boehner said.

Specifically,

Talking about Politics and Religion

They say you shouldn’t talk about politics and religion, but I had occasion to go to two Thanksgiving dinners last week, and at both I was fortunate to have the opportunity to talk about politics and religion, if not with the whole party, then at least with a couple of the people there.  It went, as far as I am aware, very well:  Neither they nor I became unpleasant or unkind at any point; no one raised his voice or started interrupting or talking over anyone.  They were, in fact, perfectly enjoyable conversations, even though (if it doesn’t go without saying) we disagreed on the substantive underlying issues (I was talking with an atheist, a liberal, a Muslim, etc., about health care, etc.).

A Few of My Favorite Bible Passages

A friend recently asked about my favorite Bible passage.

Of course the whole book is non-optional!  I recommend reading all of it, and reading any part of it in the context of the rest of it (and in the context of Christianity as practiced by the church across times and places).  So without meaning to disparage any parts not mentioned, here are a few of my favorite passages:

“And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.”
Ecclesiastes 12:12

Relationship with God

You have perhaps heard Christians say that Christianity is not just some list of rules; it’s a personal relationship with the living God.  That’s true, and very important, but it’s not necessarily intuitive (especially to newcomers or outsiders) what that means; so I thought I’d put together a brief outline to make it a little more concrete.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, and I’m not saying this is the only or best possible way to organize it.  There’s a lot of overlap among these categories, and no doubt there are things I’m forgetting.  I would be interested to hear any feedback or additions you might have.

1 — God’s Character

September 11th

What can I say that hasn’t been said?

Ten years ago this month, some Muslims hijacked planes and crashed them into both towers of the World Trade Center and into the Pentagon.  Passengers in a fourth hijacked plane learned what was going on from friends, by cell phone, and fought back, losing their lives but saving untold others when the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.  

A Modern Saint Paul

Paul (also known as Saul) was a Jewish leader who persecuted early Christians, arresting and imprisoning them and apparently even ordering their deaths.  He was, perhaps, the worst of sinners; yet God called him, and changed his heart, and Paul became one of the great evangelists of the early church (and wrote several of the books of the New Testament).  It’s a remarkable story of grace and redemption, and an assurance that no one is beyond the power of God’s forgiveness and salvation through Christ. 

Sanctus

We are told that the angels tell each other, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord . . . .”  I’ve heard it suggested that we too will spend part or all of our time (if there is time) in the hereafter talking about God, telling each other how holy He is.

To me that always seemed (at best) a great abstraction.  If we already know that God is holy, what’s the point of telling each other what we already know?

…And I Will Give You Rest

I don’t think I understand the Sabbath.

“. . . in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.  Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”  Therefore God tells us, in Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15, to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy:  “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.  On it you shall not do any work . . . .”

On Being Indifferent to God

While eating dinner the other day, I asked myself the question I always ask:  Do I want more food?  I thought about it, and concluded that I had probably had enough.  In fact, I thought that eating more at that point might cause me physical discomfort, and might constitute the sin of gluttony.

I wanted to keep eating anyway.