Wow.  I guess I didn’t realize it’s been over 10 days since I posted anything to the blog. I’ve been busy with a project for Get on the Bus as well as a personal intent to break my blogging addiction.   I’ve moved much of my posts/thoughts to my facebook page which you can access via the link on the right.  If you friend me, mention you were/are a reader of Opinionated Old Fart’s blog so I know who you are.

In addition, I am today interviewing for a position as Outreach Coordinator at my church.  It’s been close to a year since my job ended so it’s time to get back to work and I really want to focus my talents on something with some redeeming social value/impact.

“Bible texts are best read with a pair of glasses made out of today’s newspaper. “

- Dorothee Sölle,

German theologian and writer, from Justice in an Unjust World, by Karen Labacqz.

In the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

But, typically our friends on the right are all upset that Obama is practicing this, rather than being like the hypocrites or Bush.

More where that came from.

Poster created by Peter Cohen for the Coalition for the Homeless.

Image from malacandra at Daily Kos.

In late 2007, my friend and Chicago Sun-Times religion columnist, Cathleen Falsani, and her husband met an African AIDS orphan, Vasco, who needed medical care for a hole in his heart.  Through her efforts and the donations of many he has arrived in Chicago for treatment.  Read all about it here (and on the blog, Vasco’s Heart).

And watch this great video of his arrival in Chicago earlier this week.

It’s been 6 years.  How time flys.

I’ve been busy with my German friends’ visit (they left yesteday), my Monday BH homeless meal volunteering and a new project for Get on the Bus which took me away most of the day, so I’ve had little time to think about anything serious. But, I did get this daily meditation from Fr. Richard Rohr (subscribe here) which I just loved and share with you.

If you accept that there was a Resurrection that will not necessarily lead to any active or transformative faith. (Of course God could raise up Jesus if he wanted to. Mere belief in miracles does not transform us.) But if you can trust that God would do the same for you, then you also will be changed, and you can begin to change the world. The Resurrection was not a miracle to prove that Jesus was in union with God, although it does have that effect. It is the revelation of how God does things in all of time!

Just saying “Wow!” about Jesus being raised from the dead, does nothing for God, for the world, or for you. It is the same excitement as a magic show. But if you can say “Wow!” about what can and is happening now, then the Mystery of Resurrection has moved into our space and our time—and all time. Resurrection is God’s job description, not a one time magic show.