Seeing The Unseen

Beyond Prejudices, Paradigms, and Party Lines
My Blog

A bishop and gun safety activist offers a way forward from opposing viewpoints.

Instead of dismissing those whose views and experiences are different from our own, the author argues that we must look directly at them and see the goodness that is inherent in all things. From the language we use to the imperative to understand and include, we have a duty to work through opposition and build community.

Bishop Beckwith describes it this way: “We are trained to think, yet the cultural emphasis on thinking has not be applied to our ability to see . . . We are not as well trained in seeing the world’s fullness―pain and joy, compassion and cruelty. We regularly receive glimpses of pain and joy, but they are often presented in such a way as to reinforce our thinking.”

Read less

Blog

There are forces and voices in our increasingly polarized world that want us to view the issues of the day in a binary way: this or that; good or bad. Most issues are more complicated. This blog seeks to invite people to journey beyond the safety, if not the rigidity, of our silo and our ego – to the soul; where we have the opportunity to see things differently.

Atonement and Scapegoat:  An Important Difference

Atonement and Scapegoat: An Important Difference

The Day of Atonement, known as Yom Kippur, is the highest holy day of the Jewish calendar.  It begins at sundown on Friday, October 11.  It was the only day of the year when the high priest entered the holy of holies at the temple in Jerusalem. Atoning sacrifices were...

read more
Probing Pre-Election Fear and Anxiety

Probing Pre-Election Fear and Anxiety

Two weeks ago I left my phone and laptop chargers in my hotel room after checking out of a hotel room.  The next day I found out that I gotten the date wrong for the funeral of a close friend I had agreed to preach at.  These were mistakes of distraction and/or...

read more
Love Never Ends, Despite Our Efforts to Restrict It

Love Never Ends, Despite Our Efforts to Restrict It

I was in the midst of an intense reverie in my living room at home.  I was sixteen years old, a junior in high school. The Tet offensive (February 1968) had just claimed the lives of hundreds of American troops in Vietnam.  At the time I supported America’s war...

read more
Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join my mailing list to receive the latest blog updates.

You have Successfully Subscribed!