Tag: tradition
-
Lord Jesus Christ, Teach Me to Seek Truth
Project: The Pilgrim Continues His WaySeries: Lord Jesus Christ, Teach Me to See*Part 6: Teach Me to Seek Truth Source: The Pilgrim Continues His Way, Author Unknown, translated by Olga Savin, Shambhala, Boulder, 2001. Jesus said: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the…
-
Are You Sure About That?
Tradition, Judgment, and a Curious Pilgrim For the past couple of days, I have been reading The Pilgrim Continues His Way, and one conversation in “The Pilgrim’s Account of the Fifth Meeting” has stayed with me. It has also troubled me. Maybe that isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes a sacred or spiritual book teaches us…
-
Traveling Companions: Why The Curious Pilgrim
Friday, August 21, 2026Series: Traveling Companions Recently, I found myself in a conversation with two of the people I work with through AARP Foundation SCSEP in Springfield, Missouri. All three of us are over 55, which means we have accumulated more than a few stories along the way. There was Deborah, a Black woman; Marla,…
-
What Book Changed the Way You See the World?
Some books entertain us. Others inform us. A few quietly shape the way we see ourselves, other people, and the world. The book that changed the way I see the world is not just one book. It is a collection of books written over many centuries that asks three timeless questions: Who am I? Why…
-
What Is God Saying to Us?
One of the questions I hear most often is, “How do you know what God is saying?” Followers of Jesus have wrestled with that question for two thousand years. In the Wesleyan tradition, and now as an Episcopalian, I have come to appreciate four sources that help us discern God’s voice: Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and…
-
The Lamp Along the Road
Scripture, Experience, Reason, and the Living Voice of God A Curious Pilgrim Reflection Daily Office Readings:Psalm 119:97–120 • Book of Baruch 3:24–37 • Epistle of James 5:13–18 • Gospel of Luke 16:19–31 There are moments in life when the Scriptures begin to open in ways we never imagined possible. Not because we suddenly discovered new…
-
When Religion Wounds and Grace HealsPart Six: When “We’ve Always Done It This Way” Becomes Law
A reflection on Galatians 3:28 and Mark 7:23 A Pastoral Note for Wounded Readers If you have ever been corrected, scrutinized, or made to feel out of place in the church—not for lack of faith, but for how your faith was embodied—this reflection is written for you. Nothing here is meant to shame the church;…
-
Human Tradition as Divine Law
Jesus did condemn certain traditions, but not tradition itself. What he condemned was a particular kind of tradition: tradition that replaced love, justice, and faithfulness with control, hypocrisy, or exclusion. Understanding this distinction is crucial. What Jesus Actually Condemned Jesus’ strongest words about tradition appear in passages like Mark 7:1–13 and Matthew 15:1–9, where he…
-
Truth and God’s Communication
(Hebrews 1:1–12 as a foundation) Hebrews begins with a profound claim: God communicates. Not randomly, not vaguely, but purposefully and relationally. To understand how God communicates, we first need to ask a deeper question: 1. What Is Truth? Truth is not merely correct information or factual accuracy. In Scripture, truth is: That which is faithful…
