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Ash Wednesday: Lent Begins
By
Diana Butler Bass
A poem to begin your Lenten observance from one of my favorite Anglican poets. May you hunger and thirst this season for a closer connection with God and a deeper love of neighbor. “Lent” by Christina Rossetti (c. 1886) It is good to be last not first, Pending the present distress; It is…
Martin Luther King Jr: Fierce Urgency of Now
By
Diana Butler Bass
In April 1967, a year before he was killed, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached on the “fierce urgency of now” in a sermon entitled, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” Of all his speeches, it remains the least remembered because it summoned Christians to protest Vietnam. Despite the specific historical references, however, King’s argument that…
Columba of Iona: Spiritual Pilgrim, Progressive Saint
By
Diana Butler Bass
June 9 commemorates Columba, the Abbot of Iona (d. 597), who has become a rather unlikely saint-hero to contemporary emergence, liberal, and progressive Christians–as well as postmodern folks who might identify themselves as spiritual but not particularly religious. Born in Donegal, Ireland in 521 with the given name, “Colum,” meaning “dove,” Columba devoted his life…
Memorial Day: Perspective from Church History
By
Diana Butler Bass
Every Memorial Day, I remember how early Christians almost uniformly rejected any kind of military service–and how little we have learned from their witness to peacemaking. As we pause today, it may well be good for our souls to consider this perspective from church history about what it means to be both a Christian and…
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