Inspired by Scholastica

Few would admit to being a racist, yet we all have racist tendencies. If we are white, we are often unaware of the privileges we take for granted. We are generally not stopped by a policeman for no reason or looked on with suspicion or fear. Our children are generally safe in good neighborhoods and good schools. In applying for a job, we don't have to worry that our skin color might be a deterrant. When African American athletes kneel during the National Anthem to protest racism, some of us are a little uncomfortable with their defiant stance. We think our country has changed from the time of segregation and civil rights marches, but white supremacists are still found in many parts of the country and the Ku Klux Klan still lurks in the South. Many neighborhoods are still segregated. We have a long way to go to eradicate racism in our society. Yet many are afraid of speaking out, of breaking the racial divides. We fear rejection, retaliation, and ostracism. We would rath...

Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring , was one of the early writers to call our attention to caring for the earth.   She was both a scientist and a writer, and was able to convey the beauty of creation as well as expose the evils of pesticides and contaminating substances.   Her books and articles helped to get DDT banned for use in killing mosquitos and other insects.   She shared her love of the ocean and its inhabitants, as well as the wilderness with its myriads of plants and animals. Her writing often reads like poetry and moved many people to action in the 1940s-50s. She would have been pleased with Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” about care for our common home, but alarmed at the fracking oil drilling that is ruining our land, the pollution that is fouling our air and water. We need more voices like Carson and Francis. And we need more people and countries to take global warming and pollution seriously before it is too late.   It is diffi...

Although we know that God has no gender , he is frequently pictured as old man with a beard, and most often referred to as “he.” Although there are female metaphors for God in Scripture, they are frequently passed over. Women can easily feel less important and unequal to man when God is envisioned as a patriarchal lord who requires obedience instead of a figure of mercy and love. In Scripture there are feminine images of God as mother.   “Shall a mother forget her child, yet even so I will never forget you.” (IS 49:15) Just as mothers give the gift of life, so God gives humans life, nurtures, and cares for each created being. God is also referred to as Wisdom. Sophia, Holy Wisdom, is a divine image of power and strength. She is the one who blesses the earth, spreads a feast for all to enjoy and protects against evil. She promises, “Whoever finds me, finds life.” (Prov 8:35) And in the parable of the lost coin, Jesus shows the passion of God who seeks for the lost...

When asked how she knew she was called to lead the French army, Joan of Arc said that God spoke to her through her imagination. If we imagine a more peaceful world, God is urging us to help create it. If we imagine a country where immigrants can feel welcome and safe, God is speaking to us to make it happen. If we imagine a time when people with opposing views can get together and work out a solution acceptable to both sides, God is enabling us to bring it about . If you can imagine it, you can do it, we are told.   Joan of Arc imagined she could defeat the English army and restore the crown to France and she did.   Of course, afterward she was burned at the stake and declared a heretic, but centuries later she was proclaimed a saint. It takes a steadfast  faith that God will be our strength in all our endeavors. We use our imagination to create new products like Greek yogurt, unmanned space ships, and  I-phone cameras. God inspires people to come up ...

God pours out his grace upon us even when we are unaware, even when we resist he drenches us with love beyond our deepest longings, floods us with goodness we have not earned or deserved. We stand open-mouthed, stunned at the wonder of such bounty, filled with the mystery of God’s extravagance that extends farther than the vast universe, beyond the furthest star. We are used to tiny hints of grace, fleeting glimpses of earthly love, but this deluge bowls us over and we can only hold out our hands and receive.