Another of the Bible’s correlative metaphors for our condition and the solution is “closed hearts” and “open hearts.” The heart, the self at its deepest level, can be turned toward God or away from God, open to God or closed to God. ow.ly/zDyQ30nTNuX

To abandon politics means letting the Pharaohs and monarchs and Caesars and domination systems, ancient and modern, put the world together as they wish.

Salvation is about liberation, reconnection, seeing anew, acceptance, and the satisfaction of our deepest yearnings. Christianity at its best—like all of the enduring religions of the world at their best—is a path of transformation. - "Convictions" ow.ly/CCux30nTNDH

We see more clearly when our hearts are open – see the person right in front of our face, see the landscape stretched out before us. We move from darkness to light, from night to day, when we “see with the eyes of our heart enlightened.” ow.ly/YNl030nTNOf

It is remarkable that the world is, that we are here, that we can experience it. The world is not ordinary. Indeed, what is remarkable is that it could ever look ordinary to us. An open heart knows “radical amazement.” ow.ly/swiy30nVZ1j

The sense of mission that Jesus received as a Spirit person led him to undertake the role of prophet. As a prophet, he aggressively and provocatively challenged the corporate direction of his people. ow.ly/BMSW30nVZ60

In Jesus' teaching, the politics of purity was replaced by a politics of compassion

As a sage, Jesus made a commonsense observation about nature: one gathers figs and grapes from fig trees and vines, not from thorn or bramble bushes. What matters is the kind of tree one is, the kind of heart one has. ow.ly/162y30nVZlp

What did get [Jesus] in trouble is that he had become a public critic of the authorities and the way they had put the world together. ow.ly/idcx30nVZvj

In his parables, whose power depends upon the realistic portrayal of typical human behavior, people are concerned to receive what is theirs, undisposed to be generous to others, anxious about losing what they have, and fearful of defilement. ow.ly/VnK230o5EKB

The Christian life is about the opening of the self to the Spirit of God by spending time in “thin places” – those places and practices through which we become open to and nourished by the Mystery in whom we live and move and have our being. ow.ly/P5MN30o5F5n

Loving God means paying attention to our relationship with God – being intentionally present to the one in whom we live and have our being.

Sometimes the Bible Is Wrong Because the awareness that the Bible is sometimes wrong has been so important in my own Christian journey and because I am convinced that this realization is important for all Christians, I develop the point at some length. ow.ly/915z30o5FEc

These two yearnings are at the heart of the Christian message: The first is the yearning for God. The second is the yearning for a better world that is expressed in the second great commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. ow.ly/VxyG30o5FSz

In words preserved four times in the Gospel tradition, Jesus contrasted humbling and exaltation: “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18:14; see also Luke 14:11; Matt. 23:12; 18:4). ow.ly/eIGX30o5G7g

Music, poetry, literature, the visual arts, and dance can all become thin places in which the boundary between one’s self and the world momentarily disappears. ow.ly/V0Av30o5Gll

Freedom from fear is the basis of courage.

Mark Tauber​ and Mickey Maudlin​ from Harper One discuss which Marcus Borg books mean the most to them. youtu.be/A1ntFj1STcU

Jesus' passion and courage as a prophet suggest an experiential grounding in God like that of the prophets of the Jewish Bible.

Our December Second Saturday is tomorrow, December 11th. Registration is closed, but we will be posting the recording early next week. If you registered for this event, be sure to check your email for the link to the meeting.