I hope you don't mind if I make a brief comment or two. I once heard MLK jr. say that "we need a revolution of values" in this I feel he is exactly right but I feel that most churches are content with the old time religion not to different from what "massa" passed down including the degradation of women, a white Jesus, Paul as the authority on Christianity, and oh yeah the mojority of the Bible (the O.T.) can be dismissed. We as a pre-enslaved people not only had beliefs of "God and his son" along with other spiritual beliefs. I think we need to graduate from being adopted into the kingdom and realizing that we are the Kingdom, (I'm not trying to put down no body else. Donny Hathaway) Our spiritual hang up is that God is in heaven and Jesus waiting for us to die and get our reward for having nothing on earth but a good strong back that we used to make someone else rich. Someone who doesn't invite us to his church but says he believes in the same "God" that we do. We all need to recognize and energize the (lack of a more commonly known term) Godself inside. If God loves us so... then why is he so removed from us. Love me from the inside out. I hope my light (intelegence of HIM) shines from the inside out. I end my tirade here I hope there has been no offense to any and I pray that it may be enlightenment to all.

scrawled by mdwaire | June 22, 2007 4:18 PM

MD: no offense taken. I think we’re rassling with cultural norms, now deeply imprinted in our cultural DNA. I think, by and large, church folk are not really encouraged to think, to question or examine what they believe and why the believe it. It is the very rare, very exceptional day when I hear a pastor—white, black,. Brown—encourage his flock to think for themselves. For, if we all started doing that, a lot of these clowns would be out of an easy paycheck.

scrawled by priest | June 22, 2007 5:03 PM

And may the congregation say Hallelujah. I agree it is like the story of the X-mas ham. A guy asked his wife why she cut off both ends of the ham before cooking it. She replied she did not know her mother did it, she called her mom and she said Her mother did so they called grandma and she says "honey back then that was the only way it would fit in the pan" (no I do not advocate the eating of pork). I am not sure but most monastery schools teach things that the preachers never tell the congregation. I hope their will be a re-emergence of The Holy Spirit(not ghost) a spirit that increases the receiver with a knowledge that is greater than their education. I hope that we can establish not only churches but work from comics to music to corporation that the bottom line is not the dollar but the quality of the product. We should work not for the paycheck but knowing that our name is on the line our word is our worth uh like "God's".

scrawled by mdwaire | June 22, 2007 9:01 PM

Priest: Read the "Who We Are" piece. Your thoughts about what being "Christian" is mirrors my own thoughts. But the problem is that most Christians do not grow beyond the Bible and the Church. They do not "grow into the word." They believe that they can behave like David, ask God for forgiveness, then continue their ways. It's an endless loop. But those who have grown and have come into the true understanding of God has the duty to continuously teach, for all will not come into the true understanding, the true glory which is given to us by our Creator.

Thanks you for making available these readings. I'm sure they will touch someone and help them along their path to spiritual fulfillment.

scrawled by Thelmon | July 4, 2007 2:52 AM