Useful Perhaps

"What I'm use to isn't useful anymore."
~Duawne Starling, singer/songwriter



What if the Amish were Homeland Security?

"I'm convinced that if the Christian church loses this generation it will be not because we didn't entertain them, but because we didn't dare them... with the truth of the world. It won't be because we made the gospel too hard, but because we made it too easy."

~Shane Claiborne, co-founding member of The Simple Way


I listened to a Speaking of Faith interview with Shane Claiborne over the weekend. It was amazing. Shane is one of the co-founding members of a new monastic community that makes its home in North Philadelphia. He is the author of a recently published book entitled The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. Krista Tippett, host of SOF, seemed to enjoy the conversation so much herself that she decided to post the entire unedited interview (approximately 1.3 hrs) on the SOF site as well. To listen to the interview click one of the above links. If nothing else, check out this article by Shane.

One of Shane's comments that really fired my imagination was the question he and some friends are posing in a book they are co-authoring, "What if the Amish were Homeland Security?" When he asked it, the storyteller in me wouldn't pipe down. I'm hoping they actually tell a story that paints that picture. If not, I'm all over it! You can hear a 4 minute clip of that part of the interview below (just press "play" at the top-left of the jukebox).


(To learn how to embed this kind of free Flash streaming media player on your site click hear.)



A Better World is Possible

I have a new story online. It was written in support of the Faith House Manhattan project initiated by Samir Selmanovic. Faith House Manhattan is an experiment in God's hopes and dreams that will create space for Christians, Jews and Muslims to seek God together for the good of the world.

The protagonist of my new parable, "Faithful Houses," pens these words about such interfaith love and life:
People of faith change the world, and it is, I believe, for the good of the world that we discover the commonality inherent in our hopes, instead of living out of the disparity between them. If our religions remain sets of exclusive, immutable propositions, then of course they will exist in contradiction and conflict with one another. In such a climate, war seems inevitable. However...

I'll let you read the whole story to hear the rest.

I am proud to be a friend of and co-conspirator with Samir. He is a visionary and has the heart of God for the city of New York. May God bless the efforts of everyone involved in Faith House. Please check out the Faith House website sometime and discover how you can lend support. It is well worth your imagination and resources.

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