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What's Tony Thinking
Thin, Sharp or Thick
April 21, 2025 — I have previously mentioned the new book by the Brookings Institution scholar, Jonathan Rauch. It is Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy.Ā It is such an interesting book, in no small part because it comes from a scholar who isn’t himself religious, but has repented, if you will, of his own onetime contempt for... Read MoreEaster: Not A Human Potential Story
April 19, 2025 — Easter is a not “a triumph of the human spirit” story. It is not about realizing your “human potential.” It is not a story about how the good people endured and overcame. We love those stories. Especially we Americans love those stories. Hero stories. Rags to riches stories. Fighting and winning stories. No, we are... Read MoreTo Be of Use
April 16, 2025 — In recent weeks I have written several times on themes of the dignity of Work and the importance of Sacrifice. In our current moment, both have fallen on hard times. Work has often come to be viewed as a source of drudgery or frustration. Or it is a necessary evil, to be got through so... Read MoreOne Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This
April 15, 2025 — “One Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This” is the title of a new book by Omar El Akkad, an Egyptian-Canadian journalist and novelist. His title has in view the Israeli war in Gaza. But this compelling line is one that has multiple resonances today. El Akkad’s phrase suggests the way people can be... Read MoreAt the Weekend, April 12 -13
April 11, 2025 — Holy Week begins tomorrow, which is Palm Sunday. The word most associated with Palm Sunday is “Hosanna,” which means, in most definitions, “Save us, we pray.” But that’s the genteel, the polite, version. What it really means is “SAVE US, dear God, right now, right this very minute!” It is a cry of desperation. Which... Read MoreWork and DOGE
April 8, 2025 — In 2003 when the dot.com bubble burst it hit Seattle pretty hard. At the congregation I then served we had a number of people who had, overnight, lost jobs as companies folded. We started a support group for those out of work and looking for work. As it turned out, it was a men’s group,... Read MoreGreen
April 4, 2025 — It’s spring in the Northwest, or at least the part of the NW on the west side of the Cascade Mountains. I am enjoying the many colors of green. Here are some photos from walks with Georgie, the dog. All green, save one which shows the cherry blossoms against an April sky. And here... Read MoreThe Need for Adults
April 2, 2025 — Last December I flagged a post by Freya India, a 20-something Brit who writes on Substack. She also contributes to Jonathan Haidt’s site, “After Babel.” Haidt is the author of the best-selling The Anxious GenerationĀ that is about the cost to kids of spending too much time on phones and devices, and too little time in... Read MoreWhat Churches Can Do
March 31, 2025 — I very much liked this piece on Substack from David Fitch. If I were a still the pastor of a church I would be encouraging us to reflect on this piece and consider implementing those practices to which we felt called. In the meantime, I encourage those of you who are pastors or lay people... Read MoreNew Webinar for Lent Begins Today, March 10
During Lent our webinar with the Crackers and Grape Juice posse will be based on Fleming Rutledgeās magisterial book, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ. It is a big book, but an extraordinary one as well. You are welcome to participate whether you do the reading or not.
Discussion will focus on the section of the book, Part II: āThe Biblical Motifs.ā Other studies speak of āmodelsā for framing the meaning of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Fleming opts for the term āmotifsā to suggest something more fluid and less compartmentalized than discrete āmodels.ā
The first two, under discussion on March 10, are āThe Passoverā and āThe Exodus.ā How do these motifs shape the presentation and understanding of The Crucifixion? If you have had questions about the meaning of the crucifixion and various ways it has been interpreted, this webinar should be of interest.
You can read along if you have, or get, the book. If not you can simply listen in to the discussion. There will be a brief synopsis of each motif as it is presented and considered. You can enter your own thoughts and questions via the chat function. Use this link to join weekly. Each session will be recorded for listening at your convenience. Those are available through Jason Micheliās site at Substack/ Sign up for that at Substack.