Reignite

I'm always a bit suspicious of those people who have SOMETHING WISE to say right in the midst of a historical event. Despite my job being, at times, to say something wise I don't always feel up to it, and I want to hide away in my bed and just be a person rather than one of those WISE PEOPLE who have clever opinions.  Nevertheless I've been reflecting this week on the Trump victory in the States and what it means. What it means for the future, I cannot say, but it is obviously terrifying for the world. My heart goes out especially to trans people in the States as well as the Palestinian people. But I've been thinking about those campaigns and how they landed. Kamala Harris' campaign, and particularly the National Convention which had this message of JOY, seemed at the time to me deeply inappropriate against the backdrop of a genocide. I was listening to a This American Life episode following a Palestinian American at that convention, and how the leadership was tryi

 

 

 

 

It is important to point out from time to time what difference the practice of faith can make in a person's life. Progressive religious people like myself can sometimes be reluctant to do this because we don't want to seem like we're pushing a hard sell on someone, or promising that all of life's problems can be magically solved by joining a religion or signing up to something. Any wise and reflective person knows that life's problems are always there and we're always learning how to live life well. There are no shortcuts in the art of living. There are no simple solutions. But to leave it at that sells ourselves short. The practice of faith does make a difference. It does make give us deeper joy, peace, and love in life, if we truly practice it. This doesn't mean, in itself, signing up to a particular religion or just believing in something you didn't believe before. It means practising something: doing something day after day, week after week that ope