Radical Trust

Growth in trust, in radical trust in God, is radical trust in the One in whom we live and move and have our being. Put in quite secular language, radical trust is what can free us from that self-preoccupation and anxiety that mars our lives and confines our lives. It frees us for that self-forgetfulness of faith, for that willingness to live our lives in a way that is spent in the name of a larger vision, that willingness to spend and be spent. That's what comes out of faith as trust.

~ from What is Faith?
by Dr. Marcus Borg

Another Wrinkle in Time

I found myself getting teary-eyed again last week as I read about the death of yet another of my heroes. Madeleine L’Engle has passed on, at the age of 88, and she will be sorely missed. My friend Jon Zuck has written an excellent tribute to her at his blog, The Wild Things of God. Check it out.

Addendum, Sept. 22nd ~

Christianity Today has published a beautiful tribute to Madeleine from her friend, the poet Luci Shaw: At the Table with Madeleine.

Around the Web: Whosoever; Coffee & Bach

The September/October issue of Whosoever is now online, and it includes my tribute to Tammy Faye Messner. It also includes a great sermon by my friend Candace Chellew-Hodge, “God’s Irrevocable Call.” It’s a wonderful example of how a sermon can be both timely (relating to the way gays and lesbians are treated by many churches) and solidly grounded in Scripture (Romans 10:11-13 & 11:29).

Also on the web, of particular interest to coffee addicts like myself: Caffeine and Counterpoint, a great little article from Christian History & Biography about how coffee fueled Bach’s creativity.

“Leipzig [in 1732] boasted many lively coffeehouses. It was, after all, a college town, and higher education requires caffeine.”

Amen to that!