speaking of faith, again

Yesterday we listened to another segment of Speaking of Faith , "Obama's Theologian".  The segment was about Reinhold Niebuhr...podcast and text are available on the website.  

The segment was a bit dry for me, but I found one particular GEM in the midst of all the talk. Host Krista Tippet quoted Reihold Niebuhr's last teaching assistant, Ronald Stone and he said this about Niebuhr, "he had a deep personal religiosity, but disdained discussion of personal beliefs in the public square.  He said that far better to have good political ideas and a way to carry them out pragmatically than to win votes through pious protestations. Religious language should be inspired by love, but translated through the vocabulary of justice into the political realm."  

Isn't it all about love?  And to have love and justice linked so clearly in this day and age!  Bravo! And to link justice with the political realm, bravo again!  This has long been part of my spirituality, and it is not bound by denominational hindrances that separate us.  Love and justice are what the whole human family is about.  The trick is moving this hope forward into a world that is weary and broken.  This is the challenge every single morning when we open our eyes to a new day. Remember friends, to eat healthy food, rest and laugh...we need all the energy we can muster! 

OK I am stepping down off my soapbox now.