“For many of us the problem is that we simply do not believe Jesus when he tells us that in the Kingdom greatness is found in servanthood. We may feel that the idea of being a servant is all right so long as we can do it on our own terms and provided that it is generally known that we are not really servants but merely assuming the role. But Jesus calls us to a social revolution. We are to exercise the power of the Holy Spirit without claiming positions of status and rank. We exhibit power as the servant people of God. We have power without a kingdom! In our day and age may God teach us under the power of the Holy Spirit how we are to wash one another’s feet” (Richard Foster, quoted in the Renovare Weekly Digest, June  16, 2017).

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“I’m told that Søren Kierkegaard once said, ‘Faith is walking as far as you can in the light and taking one step more.’ All of us find ourselves in places where we ponder whether and how to take that one step more.  Sharing our stories gives us courage to do so” (Wesley Granberg-Michaelson in Unexpected Destinations, An Evangelical Pilgrimage to World Christianity).

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“While the Ten Commandments are about creating social order (a good thing), the eight Beatitudes of Jesus are all about incorporating what seems like disorder, a very different level of consciousness. With the Beatitudes, there is no social or ego payoff for the false self. Obeying the Commandments can appeal to our egotistic consciousness and our need to be “right” or better than others” (Richard Rohr in Daily Meditation for June 22, 2017).

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SEVEN DEADLY SOCIAL SINS  – Gandhi

Politics without principle.

Wealth without work.

Commerce without reality.

Pleasure without conscience.

Education without character.

Science without humanity.

Worship without sacrifice.

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“Every day technology embeds deeper into our lives.  With that dependent relationship comes risk as we are reminded every time a cashier asks, “Do you have a chip?” Conversations on the ethics of cyber-violence need to keep pace with technology. If Christians don’t advance ethical conversations and moral solutions, then responsibility for these decisions will be left in the hands of others” (Jazmine T. Steele in Sojourner magazine, August, 2o17).