Christopher Reeve on Superman

SOURCE:  internet

KEYWORDS:  Superman, Love Neighbor, Care, Empathy,

Christopher Reeve on the role that made him famous:

"Remember that the basic ingredient of Superman is that he's a friend.

That's the value that's so important to me, not Superman as a muscleman but Superman as friend:  A really good neighbor.

This country was founded on the idea of a 'neighbor' and walking five miles to lend your friend a cow or a plant or something.

I just think that's what, in this hi-tech urban nightmare landscape that we've got of people feeling isolated and alone - they don't know their neighbors and they don't know who's next to them and they're afraid of people on the street - life is very overwhelming.

The idea - that early American value of a friend who is there when you need him is the key to the whole character."

You Don't Have That Kind of Time

SOURCE:  https://www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/2025/4/2/anne-lamott-on-how-easter-changed-for-me

KEYWORDS:  Resurrection, Worship, Prayer, Spiritual Disciplines

Anne Lamott writes about Easter...

When I was 38, 

my best friend, Pammy, 

died, and we went shopping 

about two weeks before she died, 

and she was in a wig 

and a wheelchair. 

I was buying a dress 

for this boyfriend I was trying to impress, 

and I bought a tighter, 

shorter dress than I was used to. 

And I said to her, 

“Do you think this makes my hips look big?” 

and she said to me, so calmly, 

“Anne, you don't have that kind of time.” 

And I think Easter has been about 

the resonance of that simple statement; 

and that when I stop, 

when I go into contemplation and meditation, 

when I breathe again and do the sacred action 

of plopping and hanging my head 

and being done with my own agenda, 

I hear that, ‘You don't have that kind of time,’ 

you have time only to cultivate presence 

and authenticity and service, 

praying against all odds 

to get your sense of humor back. 

That's how it has changed for me. 

That was the day my life changed, 

when she said that to me.

Bonhoeffer on Preaching

SOURCE:

KEYWORDS: Preach, Homiletics

“Preaching is the most dangerous profession on earth. It requires a man to stand between heaven and hell, between God and men, with an open Bible and a clear conscience.” 

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Expressions of Gratitude during Thanksgiving Holiday

SOURCE:  https://pewrsr.ch/4g0oweG

KEYWORDS: Thanks, gratitude, blessing, holiday, prayer, 

Around two-thirds of U.S. adults say someone at their Thanksgiving dinner typically says a prayer or blessing (65%) or says things they are thankful for (69%). And a majority of Americans (56%) say their dinner typically includes both of these things. https://pewrsr.ch/4g0oweG

Elderly Women Are Breaking the Law to Deal with Loneliness

SOURCE:

• https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/18/asia/japan-elderly-largest-womens-prison-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
• https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/20/world/video/japan-elderly-prison-pkg-ldn-digvid
• https://fortune.com/well/article/japan-prison-older-women-loneliness/

KEYWORDS:  

• Lonely, Community, Family, Relationship, Reconciliation, Kononia, Fellowship

Elderly women in Japan are breaking the law to go to jail to deal with loneliness.

"The rooms are filled with elderly residents, their hands wrinkled and backs bent. They shuffle slowly down the corridors, some using walkers. Workers help them bathe, eat, walk and take their medication.

But this isn’t a nursing home – it’s Japan’s largest women’s prison. The population here reflects the aging society outside, and the pervasive problem of loneliness that guards say is so acute for some elderly prisoners that they’d prefer to stay incarcerated."

A Gospel That Doesn't Disturb

SOURCE:

KEYWORDS:

"A church that does not provoke, a gospel that does not disturb, a word from God that does not irritate, a word from God that does not touch the concrete sin of the society in which it is proclaimed: What kind of gospel is that?"

--Oscar Romero

Let the Grown-Ups Get to Work

SOURCE:  https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1941-1945-war-leader/christmas-message-1941/

KEYWORDS:  Christmas, youth, maturity, adult, struggle, discipleship, fight, inheritance, 

Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, Churchill went to Washington with his chiefs of staff to meet President Roosevelt and the American military leaders and coordinate plans for the defeat of the common enemy.  On Christmas Eve Churchill broadcast to the world from the White House on the 20th annual observation of the lighting of the community Christmas tree. This is an excerpt from that address.  

"Let the children have their night of fun and laughter.  Let the gifts of Father Christmas delight their play.  Let us grown-ups share to the full in their unstinted pleasures before we turn again to the stern task and the formidable years that lie before us, resolved that, by our sacrifice and daring, these same children shall not be robbed of their inheritance or denied their right to live in a free and decent world."

BZ’s Ten Point Christian Voter Guide

SOURCE:  https://brianzahnd.com/2024/10/election-season-and-your-soul-2/

KEYWORDS:  gospel, politics, violence, voting, vote, Democrat, Republican

Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. He is also a pastor-theologian who has authored eleven books, including Sinners In the Hands of a Loving God, When Everything's on Fire, and The Wood Between the Worlds.

Twelve years ago I gave my ironically named “BZ’s Ten Point Christian Voter Guide.”  Now, twelve years later I would like to again share my “voter guide.”

1. The political process, while necessary, has little to do with how God is saving the world. 

2. The fate of the kingdom of God does not depend upon political contests.

3. Don’t be naïve, political parties are more interested in Christian votes than they are in Christian values.

4. The bottom line for political parties is power. The bottom line for a Christian is love. And therein lies the rub. 

5. While in pursuit of the Ring of Power, you are not permitted to abandon the Sermon on the Mount. 

6. If your political passion makes it hard for you to love your neighbor as yourself, you need to turn it down a notch.

7. Your task is to bring the salt of Christian civility to an ugly and acrimonious political process.

8. To dismember the body of Christ over politics is a grievous sin.

9. Exercise your liberty to vote your conscience and conviction, while accepting that other Christians will do the same and vote differently than you.

10. It’s more important that your soul be filled with love than it is for your political team to win the game.

Baby Laughter

SOURCE:  https://x.com/DanWuori/status/1853785096186470525

KEYWORDS: Laughter, Social, Community, Fellowship, Babies

Long before babies can speak conventionally, they begin laughing - making it one of humankind’s earliest and most important forms of communication. 

And according to Caspar Addyman - a British researcher who specializes in baby laughter (and whose job I will now envy until the end of time), laughter is not only a signal that your baby is feeling relaxed and comfortable - but also that they are finding real pleasure in the company of others. 

In fact, Addyman’s research suggests that - exposed to the same stimuli - babies are up to eight times more likely to laugh in the presence of another child or trusted adult. 

That’s because laughter is fundamentally social. 

Think of it as your baby’s way of saying, “I’m enjoying our connection.” 

What Happened to Salt and Light?

SOURCE:  https://www.thespiritlife.net/facets/75-process/process-reflection/5249-reflections-from-john-stott#:

KEYWORDS:  Salt, Light, World, Mission

Some thoughts from John Stott:

“We should not ask, ‘What is wrong with the world?’ for that diagnosis has already been given. Rather we should ask, “What has happened to salt and light? God intends us to penetrate the world. 

Christian salt has no business to remain snugly in elegant little ecclesiastical salt cellars; our place is to be rubbed into the secular community, as salt is rubbed into meat, to stop it going bad. 

And when society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian world; but should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else. The question to ask is: Where is the salt?"

---

My own thoughts:  I couldn't agree more with Stott here, but where he suggests a retreat to "salt cellars," I suggest an additional temptation.  Some believe they are applying "salt" to the world, but it is a counterfeit.  It looks nothing like the gospel that Jesus embodied.  

"If salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot" (Matthew 5:13-14).