A series of disconnected observations:   1. People here are incredibly bright, motivated, and educated.  Croats value education highly. 2. People here walk EVERYWHERE.  Walking and biking as the primary means of transportation is prevalent.  Which = people here, in general, are in pretty good shape physically. 3. People here love ice cream and rich … Continue reading Observations from Zagreb

From the Department of Redundancy Department: more greatness from Richard Rohr. We are all spiritually powerless, and not just those physically addicted to a substance. Alcoholics just have their powerlessness visible for all to see.  The rest of us disguise it in different ways, and overcompensate for our more hidden and subtle addictions and attachments, … Continue reading Spiritual Powerlessness

This post is a follow-up on "Scapegoating, Othering, & Justice" (13 October), and is itself a rethink of a post from late summer ("Musing on Corporate Guilt, pt 1," from 2 August.) For decades, it's been a truism in biblical studies and theology that modern Western thought is more individualistic than the ancient near eastern … Continue reading Corporate Responsibility and Justice

The view from our temporary residence outside Samobor. Looks a lot like Grayson or Olive Hill, doesn't it? St Mark's Church. Lower Zagreb has buildings from the 1200's. Upper Zagreb has buildings from the Austrian (Hapsburg empire) period, 1500-1880's.  Below are Caesar Augustus's projects from Pula: the Temple to Rome and the arena. These were … Continue reading Pictures from Croatia 

So our first week in Zagreb is nearly over.  It's Thursday morning here; the Presidential debate is running in the background.  It's kind of surreal, I've been able to go entire days here without thinking about Trump VS Clinton. There are all kinds of "missionary" commonplace expressions.  One of them is to open each communique … Continue reading Zagreb, Week 1

(I feel like I need to begin with a disclaimer: "Verbed nouns ahead."  Please pardon the jargon.) Scapegoating and Othering  Othering is a process that we as individuals or groups use to separate someone from us, to draw barriers that mark them as different and exclude them. We usually other people for the purpose of scapegoating; my definition … Continue reading Scapegoating, Othering, & Justice

For those who don't know: this summer I left Dallas Christian College, and this past week I accepted a position with the Biblical Institute of Zagreb (Croatia). So Beth and I are moving to Croatia THIS WEEK. Leaving this Friday, arriving in Zagreb some 18 hours later, via Frankfurt. Beth is staying for a week, … Continue reading “I had the strangest dream”

Several of my progressive Christian friends have great difficulty with the prevalent understandings of the death of Jesus. They've heard the cross (the atonement) explained as an "atoning sacrifice," a "ransom," "substitution," "Jesus taking the punishment for our sin," etc.  As they read it, these explanations evoke the image of an angry, punitive God--an image that … Continue reading Musing on Corporate Guilt, pt 1