Mark's Blog
Saying Yes During a Torrential Rain of No
How can we say yes when we are pummeled with so many nos? No to immigration, no to Ukraine, no to federal workers, no to climate care, no to the teaching of racial history, no to trans people, no to anything that has to do with DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). ...
Guidelines for Wednesday Vigils and for Sabbath Fast
This Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, I am hosting an hour-long noon vigil at a prominent intersection in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Several people have said they will join me. We will be holding two signs: one that says, “What does the Lord require of you?” and the other,...
Proposing a Sabbath Fast from Food, Finance and Media
Like it or not, we are beholden to the production/consumption system. Some years ago I read that Americans receive something on the order of a thousand messages a day, from some electronic device, enticing us to purchase certain medications, buy this car, fly to this...
Truth is For Sale
Truth is for sale. As directives and orders and policy statements continue to rain down on the country – and indeed across the ocean to Europe and beyond -- the thread that emerges is that truth is a commodity that gets bought, sold and traded in the marketplace. ...
Different Definitions for Christian Orthodoxy and American Freedom
It was one church. Sort of. For seven hundred years, from the early 300s until 1054, there was essentially one Christian church — with two centers. The Western center was in Rome and the Eastern center was in Constantinople, named after Constantine, the first...
The Hope of Ubuntu During an Avalanche of Change
“Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing there is a field. I will meet you there.” So wrote Sufi poet Rumi, a Persian who lived from 1207-1273. His well-remembered words have framed the desire that many have had since to move beyond the limitations of...
Soweto and a Sermon
Two days ago I was in Soweto, a township of two million people located just outside of Johannesburg. For decades Soweto was seen as the epicenter of anguish during the years of Apartheid, from 1948 to 1994. Thousands of people were forcefully removed from rural...
An Interfaith Pre-Inauguration Gathering
Last night Braver Faith, a “department” of Braver Angels, convened a pre-inauguration event. We had three speakers – a Rabbi, a Southern Baptist Pastor, and the national Braver Angels Ambassador. Surrounding their reflections were prayers offered by Christian,...
Inaugurations Past and Present
It wasn’t the first speech I heard, but was the first one I paid attention to. I was 9 ½, home for lunch on January 20, 1961, and watching television as President John F. Kennedy took the oath of office and then give his inaugural address. My parents weren’t...