I wrote this post in 2016, the last time there was a vacancy on the Supreme Court. It is still appropriate during this current vacancy.
I love the Cleveland Museum of Art. If you love art museums and find yourself in Cleveland, Ohio you need to put its art museum on your itinerary. It is one of the best art museums in the country and, except for special exhibits, it is always free.
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Let's talk about the Bible. To survey a million different people about their thoughts on Scripture is to get a million different answers. Some say inerrant, some say not so much. Some say the only approach is literal and others lean heavily on interpretation. Some love it, some hate it, some fall into the grey area that exists between.
As I have studied Scripture on my own and in seminary, I have come to realize that the Bible is far more complicated and nuanced and messy than my younger self could have ever imagined. My foundations have been filed down and are being rebuilt, slowly, into something more strange and more beautiful. Someday I will be able to coherently articulate how I view Scripture, but there is one thing of which I am absolutely sure right now: it is not simple.
Picture the following scene in your mind-- a young man has fallen in love with a beautiful woman from a distance. He sees her in town, at parties, at community events and he is smitten. The problem is that she doesn't even knows he exists. He tries to engage her in conversation when possible and she is polite, but it is clear that the subject of his affections doesn't have the same affection for him. He thinks about her all the time. He can hardly eat or sleep. He knows he needs to either win her heart or work to forget her.
by Lindsey Funtik, Coordinator of Volunteer Ministries, Ashland First United Methodist Church, Ashland, Ohio
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They say that work days aren't so bad if you just hit the ground running. As soon as you have rolled over and checked that and that and that on the screen that hovered dangerously near your puddle of drool through the night, you are to hitch your pants on tight and begin the sprint. After all, we pledge allegiance to the fact that the best way to reach goals is to barrel headlong into them. You'll be fine, you'll get stuff done, you won't be swallowed by the arduous, existential slog if you just book it.
Old Testament: Exodus 3:1-15 or Jeremiah 15:15-21
Psalter: Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b or Psalm 26:1-8
Epistle: Romans 12:9-21
