Within the last several weeks the world has lost two voices of scholarship and critical thinking about the role of faith in our lives. Both Walter Brueggemann and Alasidair MacIntyre, the first who looked at Scripture as a moral force and the second who examined human vulnerability to non-rational behavior, have died.
Brueggemann is more familiar to us here in the U.S., as he unfolded God’s call to economic and social justice, something Congress should reflect in tax policies as it passes a budget. McIntyre examined our need for dependence upon others called community, again something the current Congress should also understand.
We humans need a community that reflect the underlying truths found in Scripture, namely that economic and social justice are essential to our existence, and when we subvert this truth, we lose our groundings. The prophets of ancient Israel preached this truth; Congress would do well to listen as it considers the budget
Prayer for the Day
Patient God, our love is not what we would hope
Focused on ourselves alone, the needs of others dim before us;
Transform our lives so we hear the world around us,
And help us respond to those who need us.
Open our hearts to your call and our ears to your word,
So we truly care for the communities in which we live.
In the name of the One who shows us your way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
The crisis in the U.S. church has almost nothing to do with being liberal or conservative; it has to do with giving up on the faith and discipline of our Christian baptism, and settling for a common generic U.S. identity that is part patriotism, part consumerism, part violence and part affluence.
Walter Brueggemann (1929-2025)
To cry out that the emperor had no clothes on was at least to pick on one man only to the amusement of everyone else; to declare that almost everyone is dressed in rags is much less likely to be popular.
Alasdair McIntyre (1929-2025)
God has told you what is good: and what does the Lord require of you,
But to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8