Last week my family and I went shopping at Walmart. That used to be insignificant, but now it’s sort of a treat for my girls to get to go shopping. The location we were at does not require face masks, and few shoppers wear them. My family did, largely because I want my girls toContinue reading “Don’t Cough On Me”
Author Archives: Bart Whitman
“The Second Coming”, by W.B. Yeats
This poem, written by Irish poet W.B. Yeats in 1919, is a rather dark view of a world that he felt was failing. I think it holds significant relevance today. While it holds spiritual imagery, it is not written as a “Christian” poem. Pay attention to his imagery related to the problem, especially in theContinue reading ““The Second Coming”, by W.B. Yeats”
Rewind: Dirty
This is one of my favorite past posts, originally written in 2011. I thought it was worth revisiting now. I hope it challenges you as much as it challenges me. Sometimes the way I read my Bible is a little delusional. Take, for example, the story of Hosea. I used to love that story. GodContinue reading “Rewind: Dirty”
Trust the process. Or blow it up. Whatever. But be in it.
OK, so everyone’s still mad about everything, so let’s keep it up with the politics. A couple of weeks back, a group of protesters pulled down the Christopher Columbus statue at the capital in Saint Paul. At first glance, it seemed to be another act of destruction in the rioting that has been happening sinceContinue reading “Trust the process. Or blow it up. Whatever. But be in it.”
Freedom and ‘Merica.
OK, so everyone’s already mad about everything right now, so let’s just do some politics on here. What can it hurt. My little girls are 4 and 6 now, and they’re hitting an age where they are really embodying the stubbornness of their parents. One of the most common phrases in our house right nowContinue reading “Freedom and ‘Merica.”
Paul Harvey on the Common Man
“Why should anyone aspire to be a common man, an average man? Do you realize what it means to be average? That means you’re the best of the lousiest…and the lousiest of the best. Now, if we demand more and more for producing less and less, while the have-not nations encourage, and inspire, and indeedContinue reading “Paul Harvey on the Common Man”
Perkins on forgiveness and love
These are reflections of minister and civil rights activist John M Perkins, as he lay in bed recovering from injuries and ulcers in Mississippi, 1970. An excerpt from John M. Perkins book, “Let Justice Roll Down”. “The Spirit of God worked on me as I lay in that bed. An image formed in my mind.Continue reading “Perkins on forgiveness and love”
In honor of George Floyd
I could write a long list of reasons why I shouldn’t write anything on the turmoil we have seen in Minnesota and around the nation since the death of George Floyd, but the reality is that whatever the list would look like, it would be summed up with the line, “I’m afraid.” It’s a scaryContinue reading “In honor of George Floyd”
Machen on Socialism and the Modern World
“The modern world represents in some respects an enormous improvement over the world in which our ancestors lived; but in other respects it exhibits a lamentable decline. The improvement appears in the physical conditions of life, but in the spiritual realm there is a corresponding loss. The loss is clearest, perhaps, in the realm ofContinue reading “Machen on Socialism and the Modern World”
Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy
Slightly edited for relevance and length The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that theContinue reading “Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy”
Driven 