tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post6285567993409015746..comments2024-03-24T11:30:08.199-07:00Comments on Can you believe?: "Support our troops" and other incomplete sentimentsJohan Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-69250060983830087202008-07-22T08:56:00.000-07:002008-07-22T08:56:00.000-07:00Johan, my thanks for your commentary on scripture ...Johan, my thanks for your commentary on scripture from the starting place of an adult convert from an atheist family... my experience also. "...urgent, ecstatic, despairing, instructing, inspiring..." Thank you. A menu of excellence in this weeks blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-18840069527505357962008-07-07T10:56:00.000-07:002008-07-07T10:56:00.000-07:00Our Lord told us we needed to worship Him in Spiri...Our Lord told us we needed to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. He never specified the style or form of worship, despite the attempts by some (including some Quakers) to make it into that. Worship of just about any style can either be true worship or false worship.Bill Samuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00752443575410023776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-5921079749658780432008-07-07T07:17:00.000-07:002008-07-07T07:17:00.000-07:00All this helps me understand why different communi...All this helps me understand why different communities have different worship cultures.<BR/><BR/>Another testimony to my own inconsistencies.... I love Taize singing. Also: When I'm thinking about worship, I can have strong preferences against ceremony or anything that seems to be setting a mood or sculpting holiness or awe. But when I am IN worship, I'm in a zone where such critical thoughts don't seem to intrude.<BR/><BR/>There does seem to be an audience for studies and statistics that "prove" how ignorant we Americans are. But some of those studies need to be taken seriously. In my work with a couple of state bars, I've seen studies that demonstrate our lack of knowledge of (and support for) the U.S. Constitution, jury service, etc. It's possible to exaggerate the knowledge gap, but it is not possible to exaggerate how important it is for Americans to do better in advocating Constitutional due process and good civics education.<BR/><BR/>Maybe I'll get to this in another blog post.Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-39596401213694404062008-07-04T20:16:00.000-07:002008-07-04T20:16:00.000-07:00Thanks, Bill. I think that if many people are help...Thanks, Bill. I think that if many people are helped by reading the Bible in public, it is perfectly OK to tell others, like me, to defer to the experience-tested benefits that others receive, while still remembering to avoid routinizing a precious resource that should be sharpening us rather than dulling us.Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-72257296203954669082008-07-04T07:24:00.000-07:002008-07-04T07:24:00.000-07:00On reading the Bible in public worship:1. I think...On reading the Bible in public worship:<BR/><BR/>1. I think it can have a certain value standing alone. A good Catholic church reads each portion of the lectionary at a different point in the mass, and allows a period of silence after each one so people can reflect on it. Such a practice can help immerse us in scripture, though it by no means obviates the need to read it daily in private devotions.<BR/><BR/>2. Conservative Friends have a practice of public Bible Reading. It is like a normal worship service in that it is grounded in holy silence and people speak as led. But the speaking is all directly from scripture (Friends do bring their Bibles to these services), without commentary. It can be very powerful.Bill Samuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00752443575410023776noreply@blogger.com