StephenBarkley.com

The dripping blood our only drink, The bloody flesh our only food: In spite of which we like to think That we are sound, substantial flesh and blood— Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday Good. — T. S. Eliot (Four Quartets 2: East Coker) Nothing brings people to church like food. Hold [...]

The tree of American economy is rooted in the toxic soil of unbridled materialism, a culture that extols greed, a false standard of values that puts short-term profits over societal health, and a distorted calculus that measures human worth by personal income instead of character, integrity, and generosity. — Jim Wallis (God’s Politics) Samuel warned [...]

Power can be an extremely destructive thing in any context, but in the service of religion it is downright diabolical. — Richard Foster (The Challenge of the Disciplined Life) You know you’re approaching a profound section of scripture when the section heading (at least in my NRSV) reads, “Miscellaneous Regulations”. Nothing warms the soul and [...]

OK, so here’s the deal. I’m going on an 8 day canoe trip through Algonquin, and I’m leaving in a couple of hours. I tried (honestly) to write an Ezekiel entry, but all I can think about is camping. “Ezekiel stood on the banks of the river in Babylon . . . I wonder if [...]