transition

Wil Gafney 1-04-2018

THIS MONTH SEES several liturgical transitions. Epiphany, the season of light and revelation, comes to a close. Jesus’ transfiguration is its own epiphany. The church enters the season of Lent, beginning with a focus on human frailty and failure—and for many people an evening (or week) of indulgence in things that bring joy, pleasure, and sweetness. The light is still there, but we are peering more intently at the shadows.

The opening prayer for Ash Wednesday in The Book of Common Prayer begins, “Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.” The readings for the first week present the God whose power and splendor in creation is only matched by her care for her children. The radiance of the transfiguration also shines a light on the ways in which we are not like Jesus, yet he chooses to leave the mount of illumination and return to the world that needs his light. The readings for the third week attend to the world God has made, calling us to care for it in partnership with God. And on the final Sunday, Jesus teaches about his death and resurrection, the greatest transition in the scriptures.

 

Christian Piatt 5-03-2012
The Piatt Prius, overloaded. Photo by Christian Piatt.

The Piatt Prius, overloaded. Photo by Christian Piatt.

It turns out that packing all the belongings you need for at least three months into the back of a Prius is a challenge. Of course, being a guy it’s the kind of challenge that makes life worth living. Anyone who has ever been a Tetris junkie can appreciate the exhilaration of fitting forty-seven differently shaped items into a space made for about half the volume. Yes, I had to jump up and down on the back hatch, and several keepsakes are undoubtedly smashed beyond recognition. But by God, I got it all in there.

While I was basking in the glory of being a master packer, my family was busy feeling. Amy kept up her “four cries an hour” regimen, while three-year-old Zoe melted down whenever she realized this toy or that piece of furniture was not going with us after all. It’s a strange feeling, leaving most of our valuables behind, but for me, it’s kind of liberating. I love the idea of grabbing what I can carry and heading west until I reach the edge of the earth.

Apparently my family doesn’t share the same romantic bug. They like stability.

“This is the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere,” said Amy, wiping tears aside. “This is home.”

“Yeah, but we’re taking home with us,” I said, trying in vain to employ the typically male strategy of emotional deflection.

“Taking it where?”

“Good question.”

Danielle Tumminio 9-28-2011
If older generations paint morality in black and white, young people's palettes are disappointingly grey.
Jim Rice 6-01-2011
The ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan has caused considerable concern among Wall Street types, many of whom had already voted with their wallets against the financial feasibility of nuclear power by
Jacqueline Klamer 2-22-2011

More than a year after an earthquake stalled the country's economy, some business owners in Haiti have recovered and expanded production faster than expected. "The key word is innovation," says Daniel Jean-Louis, business professor in Port-au-Prince.

Duane Shank 2-10-2011

I watched on Al Jazeera television and followed tweets (#Tahrir) from Tahrir (Liberation) Square in Cairo, Egypt as hundreds of thousands of Egyptians awaited a promised speech by President Hosni Mubarak.

Jim Wallis 2-03-2011

By all journalistic reports, it was the Egyptian government of President Hosni Mubarak that sent thousands of armed thugs into Tahrir Square and the streets of Cairo yesterday to bring violence to w

Jim Wallis 2-01-2011
It's time to be a little more honest about Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak is a dictator, and has run a brutal and corrupt police state for three decades.
Tracey Bianchi 12-14-2010
Well, here we go. Like it or not, tis the season. For me the holidays are a mixed blur of emotions, hopes, and unfulfilled, unrealistic dreams and desires.
Becky Garrison 12-06-2010
[Editors' note: As part of Sojourners' commitment to bring you into discussion with a broad range of theological perspectives, writer Becky Garrison offers this interview with
Katherine Philipson 11-19-2010
The effects of climate change -- coastal flooding, stronger storms, spreading vector-borne diseases like malaria, and changes in rainfall patterns -- are already taking their toll on marginalized p
Ben Lowe 4-29-2010
Early Saturday evening, three friends and I headed out to Chicago for dinner at a favorite restaurant in our old neighborhood (Pilsen).
Allison Moody 4-14-2010
Editor's Note: As Sudan prepares for this April's election, the Khartoum regime's leader, President al-Bashir, has threatened to cut off the fingers of foreign election observers who "interfere
Cesar Baldelomar 2-05-2010
In a recent interview with Commonweal magazine, renowned Catholic theologian David Tracy argued that theological discourse, with its accompanying jargon and disputes about certain doctrina
Nontando Hadebe 9-09-2009
Last week the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) pledged to support the program on national healing in Zimbabwe.
Seth Naicker 8-07-2009
I have been home in South Africa for two months as of August 6. I am grateful that my family and I are home in the land of our beginnings.
Ashley Morse 7-02-2009

On the morning of June 28, Honduran President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya was awoken suddenly as masked soldiers burst into his home. As the media has been rave to point out, still in his pajamas, the elected head of state was forced onto a plane and shipped out of the country.

Imagine America's 'Rust Belt' transformed into a green belt of clean energy manufacturing. Imagine the factories of Detroit making wind turbines and solar panels to power America.
Neeraj Mehta 5-26-2009
A standard definition of community development often goes something like this:

Nontando Hadebe 2-11-2009
A brief recap on some of the latest developments in Zimbabwe.