This blog attempts to listen to Jesus of Nazareth with ears that are open to hearing what he says to us, and not only what others have said he said. I hope to open my ears (and to accompany you as you open yours) in two ways.  The first way is by consistently asking how the words of Jesus can be lived out, acting on that understanding and seeing where it leads.  The second is by using the whole of Jesus’ teaching—its patterns and themes, its shadows and echoes—to uncover new meanings and directions in the particular.  Even as I write in order to promote a fresh hearing of the words of Jesus, I seek help and companionship along that way.

This blog seeks a conversation with people who are new to Jesus (and their fresh ears) and people who are long time listeners (and their breadth and depth of experience).  So this blog is for you:

  • If you are intrigued by Jesus’ words but have run into roadblocks, curmudgeons, or other difficulties when you try to understand him; or …
  • If you have been listening to Jesus for years and desire to hear him more clearly in our rapidly changing culture.

For those who have been listening to Jesus for a while, as well as for those who are new to Jesus, the obstacles to hearing his words are real.  There is a lot of noise, noise which attempts to drown out Jesus’ voice, and noise which attempts to highjack Jesus’ voice for other purposes.  But a word truly heard finds its way into the life of the listener.  In the terms of the Gospel of John, the word becomes flesh.  In the terms of this blog, we strive for a living consistency between our beliefs and our character.

This blog is born out of disconnects which have become more evident with the current cultural changes.  Here are a few of the problems this blog addresses:

  1. Hypocrisy—The persistent disconnect between our inner self and our public self, between our words and our actions, between our beliefs and our character.
  2. The ingrown nature of much religious thinking which reinforces the ingrown nature of many religious communities, a disconnect between religion and the world.
  3. The fragmentation of our thought into distinct categories such as physical and spiritual, religious and scientific.
  4. Our prodigious propensity to pursue purpose and—in the process—miss the givenness of the moment, a disconnect between our remembering/planning selves and our experiencing selves.