Welcome! This blog is new – I aim to talk about being Christian in today’s world. First of all, God is love, and that is what being Christian is about. It is not about following the rules, saying the “right” things, advocating “right” doctrine. And it is especially not about excluding people who are not like you – in race, gender, age, or sexual preference. Jesus made it much simpler, and much harder, than all that.

Read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, Chapters 5,6, and 7). Read all three chapters again! It is not easy to love your enemies; it is not easy to set aside hate and anger. It is not easy to be light in a world of darkness. How do we do those things, today, when hate is all around us, when even people who claim to be Christian advocate hate and anger and exclusion, when people are hated simply for being Muslim? or Mexican? or immigrants?The only way to overcome hate is with love.

What can you do today to show love? You can smile at the clerk in the grocery store, even if the line was long. You can leave a generous tip for the harried waiter or waitress. You can volunteer for a community service. You can simply be kind to people! That is where we begin.

Those are the first steps of this journey. Come along with me and see where we are going.