Snapshots and Synapses

“It’s all good.” Now there’s a positive outlook for you… the phrase is used to soothe emotions after an awkward, sensitive or disappointing event. But if I stop to consider it, I believe this attitude is more accurate than the traditional “good vs. evil” mindset. It’s not my nature to see circumstances in this context. I can often overlook patches of vegetation, focusing on the barren ground that surrounds it, rather than the fact that there is life with the potential to grow further. I have allowed myself to become discouraged by the changes occurring in the 2020’s, but as long as there is life, there is hope! It's hard to see the world as it is and as it could be Yes, philosophically it truly is all good: evil is the privation of good just as cold is the absence of heat and darkness results from the lack of light. Weakness is the absence of strength. I believe God has given us many natural analogies to help us understand this truth: that evil is not an equally powerful opponent ...

copyright ©2010 Mitchell Malloy ( http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/ ) Well, now that we have become an Obama nation (not quite the same as “abomination”) and as elections start to loom in the distance, I hear people saying: “how’s that hope thing working out for you?”. The last presidential election was, after all, centered on “hope” and “change”. But I’m not writing about campaign strategies or critiquing the performance of our statesmen. I’m focused on our need for hope as individuals. Where is the hope? I see and sometimes feel a great absence of hope as marriages struggle, finances crumble, and life-long vocations teeter. One co-worker of mine despairingly acknowledged current events and trends with a corollary statement of “might as well have a drink and not think about it”. In other words, find your drug of choice and pretend there’s no problem to fix. While I acknowledge that avoidance can be a valid short-term tactic, it’s a dangerous long-term strategy. Healthy organization...

Wake Up Prayer Warriors! The battle for the heart of Indiana continues! Faith, Hope and Love has started again, beginning with the prayer walk yesterday at the Circle. Who will stand in the gap? Who will pray for renewed Hope in this area? Who will choose to Hope ? J.R.R. Tolkien had an interesting perspective on Hope ... as a young boy he lost both his parents. Later, as a young Oxford graduate, he saw the awful destruction of World War I, watching many of his friends and colleagues perish in the "war to end all wars". And even after that horror, he lived through the Second World War... and a cold war... so much death, destruction and despair. However, Tolkien saw Hope as refusing to despair. I admit to moments of despair since last summer. This world, this culture, revolves around Eros and not Agape. The first question many of us ask when challenged to serve is: "What's in it for me?" (Or "How does my church benefit?") We live more in Eros (a d...