The 60-Second Sabbath

Unity

  • We Are Called

    We are calledto work for the rightsof those whom we mistrust,of those who wish us harm. As Lillian Hellman writes,"Since when do you have to agree with peopleto defend them from injustice?" Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries.… Continue reading

  • On the Evening Train

    On the evening train,rocking, rattling in darkness,escaping the confines of the city:old man scowling at the business section of the paper;weary woman staring at the floor    after a day of changing sheets and wiping out tubs;young man with tattooed sleeves    meeting rebounding glances… Continue reading

  • Woven Together

    We may share joy;we most certainly sharethe warp and woofof sorrow. Our woundedness weaves us one.  Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Love

    As Christian young people,we sang "Kum Ba Yah" and "Pass It On." We also sang: "Love, love, love, love–the gospel in a word is love.Love you neighbor as your brother.Love, love, love, love." What we did not sing,but is implied:"Love… Continue reading

  • MLK, Denver, 2012

    "We are in this together,"read the placard.And we were:black, white, Korean, Hispanic,Baptist, Methodist, Christian, Muslim,students and the aged (with canes),dreadlocks and crewcuts,Up with People and down with the system,male, female, gay, straight–an unlikely mix of one,just as God dreamed us. And… Continue reading

  • The Sacred and Profane

    What is sacred?What is profane? The question is a uniquely Western one;in richer cultures, all is holy–there is no place where God is not. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.  Continue reading

  • On the Sixth Day of Christmas

    If he's just arrived,isn't this when he needs us most–this neonate, this babe,so fragile, so absolutely dependent? Shouldn't we get the place ready,clean things up a bit,replace alienation with reconciliation,suspicion with trust,and greed with grace? He came in 2009,and we… Continue reading

  • Winter

    "I'm back," Winter says."Did you miss me?"He knows it's so,and so smiles as he asks. This is not only Winter 2011-2012,coming for his first visit.This is the same Winterthat shepherded Mary and Josephto the shelter of the stable;this is the… Continue reading

  • Advent 2

    Ah, those pearly gates:when you stand in the scanner,hands forming a triangle over your head,St. Peter won't be checkingfor circumcision,a membership card,or any belief in particular,but signs of being-like-Christ:kindness,justice,and a heart so broken,there's room enough to drive a whole tuckload… Continue reading

  • A Headline for the World

    If, tomorrow morning,  you had the opportunityto put your one, best line of adviceon the front page of every  newspaper,or every website,across the globe,what would it be?If you could boil downto one two- to six-word headlinethe organzing concept of your… Continue reading