A Holiday Apology

Dear Reconciliation Blog friends,

Happy holidays to all. I’ve obviously been away from the blogging routine for a while. I apologize for my absence, but I’ve found more and more of my time being taken up by UrbanFaith.com (which I welcome you to visit often), as well as the busyness of life in general. I read somewhere recently that if you’re constantly apologizing for your lack of blog posts, that could be a sign that you need to shut down your blog. I don’t know if I’m at that point yet, but I do feel awful that I’m not able to spend more time updating this site—especially when there are so many hot and compelling topics to riff on these days. However, I’ve enjoyed keeping up with things on many of your blogs. I appreciate your patience with me.

In the meantime, I invite you to check out a Christmas reflection I wrote several years back that is currently posted at UrbanFaith. Though the event in the story took place way back in my college years, I think I’m still learning the lessons of that evening.

If I don’t post again before Christmas, I want to wish everyone out there a blessed holiday season.

Peace,
Ed G.

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Beers, Aliens, and Purple Hazes

Sorry that I haven’t updated the blog in a while. I’ve been busy with work and family outings (trying to get in some final summer activities before the kids return to school). To be honest, most of my blogging energy is being used up over at UrbanFaith.com, which I’d like to encourage you to visit and bookmark, if you’re not familiar with it already. UrbanFaith is an online magazine that I work on as part of my day job at Urban Ministries, Inc. Here are a few of the interesting items we’ve posted recently:

• Redeeming a “Teachable Moment.”  This one goes beyond the beer summit to try and get at the real lessons from the Henry Louis Gates arrest and the subsequent racialized fiasco. We solicited commentary from seven Christian scholars and pastors, including William Pannell, Cheryl Sanders, Glenn Loury, Curtiss DeYoung, Art Lucero, Vashti Murphy McKenzie, and Tali Hairston. Pannell and Loury, especially, offer a trenchant analysis of President Obama’s handling (or mishandling) of the matter. The topic’s a bit dated now, but please check it out and let us hear your feedback.

• Justice or Socialist?  The legendary Christian reconciler and activist John M. Perkins shares insights on pursuing biblical justice without letting our politics, ideology, or suspicions get in the way. Very relevant in light of the current health-care debate.

• How to Handle Panhandlers.  Should we give without constraint, or does God want us to be more discriminating. My friend Arloa Sutter allowed us to adapt this one from her blog. This one will always be a timely issue for us to wrestle with.

• Aliens vs. Racism.  A review of the new film District 9, which isn’t your typical UFO flick. For starters, it’s set in South Africa. Plus, the human heart turns out to be a lot more frightening than the ugly extraterrestrials.

• Three Days in 1969.  Remembering Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix, and our continuing search for peace and love. If you’re a fan of Hendrix or the Woodstock era, you’ll want to check this one out.

Read Full Post »