Author / James Ross Kelly

Posts by James Ross Kelly

Posts are meant to share an aspect of the universal Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. James Kelly is a Christian seeking the Mercy of God (i.e., His Goodness and Loving Kindness) and daily more of the Grace of His Holy Spirit. Posts of other authors are meant for review of salient points made by said authors and are credited and meant to share light with others and encourage others to read their works, and when possible, by providing links to where their works may be purchased.
by James Ross Kelly

The Sacred Power of the World -Stephen D. Blackmer — The New Atlantis

Stephen D. Blackmer on his improbable journey from eco-activism to the priesthood.

Source: The Sacred Power of the World – The New Atlantis

In hindsight, I understand Black Elk’s words: “I think I have told you, but if I have not, you must have understood, that a man who has a vision is not able to use the power of it until after he has performed the vision on earth for the people to see…. It is from understanding that power comes; and the power in the ceremony was in understanding what it meant; for nothing can live well except in a manner that is suited to the way the sacred Power of the World lives and moves.”

by James Ross Kelly

Author interview: Anthony Bartlett, Virtually Christian – Faith Meets World

Like the tiny coral which over time produces a massive reef, the Christian Gospel has uniquely refashioned the human landscape. The nonviolence and forgiveness of the Crucified One has seeped into the deep structure of human affairs, throwing into relief the victims of human violence, and, at the same time, evoking life-giving responses of compassion, forgiveness and nonviolence. In this sense our world can rightly be called “virtually Christian.”

 

Anthony Bartlett

Source: Author interview: Anthony Bartlett, Virtually Christian – Faith Meets World

by James Ross Kelly

The Suffering Servant of Second Isaiah: A Non-Penal Consideration | Matthew Distefano

With our sacrificial glasses put to the side for a moment, what seems fairly clear here is not that the servant gives up his life to satisfy the wrath of God—that would have to be read into the text—rather, the servant willingly gives up his life (nefesh) non-violently (Isaiah 53:9) for the very people who put him to death. He sees the profundity of what he is suffering through and so, gains an understanding and a knowledge that makes “many” righteous (Isaiah 53:11). The knowledge that the servant earns is a recognition of both God’s desires and of what it means to be human. Anthony Bartlett calls it a “new theological-anthropological truth.” To be righteous—that is to say, to be like God—is to be like the suffering servant, the one who has no violence in him (Isaiah 53:9). James G. Williams drives this point further home in the following: “It wasn’t God who caused suffering, it was the oppressors. As the divine voice says in an oracle found in chapter 54: ‘If any one stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you.’ ‘Strife’—the conflict of mimetic rivalry that results in violence—does not come from God.”

Source: The Suffering Servant of Second Isaiah: A Non-Penal Consideration | Matthew Distefano

by James Ross Kelly

Renewal at WordPress is coming


Game Of Thrones The Ice Dragon by Christopher Clark
by James Ross Kelly

To the newspaper that encouraged “discreetly” photographing fat airline passengers

USA Today Travel released a video instructing passengers to post photographs to social media if they felt their space was invaded. One fat…

Source: To the newspaper that encouraged “discreetly” photographing fat airline passengers

by James Ross Kelly

That our glassy sea be mingled with fire— by William Graham Scroggie

St. John One: One

“A sea of glass mingled with fire” (Rev. 15:2).

William Graham Scroggie William Graham Scroggie

Peace and energy do not always go together, though they should. Energy need be none the less energetic if it be peaceful, nor peace the less peaceful if it be energetic. Peace without energy may be only stagnation; and energy without peace may be but a form of panic. What we need is that our glassy sea be mingled with fire, and that our fire shall have for its home a glassy sea. Too often the water puts out the fire, or the fire dries up the water; but in every true life these dwell helpfully together. Why should peace exclude passion, and why should passion destroy peace? Why should one moral quality triumph at the expense of another? Yet, too often it is so. Sometimes our sea is not glassy, but tempest tossed; and sometimes…

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by James Ross Kelly

Why Are We so Moved by the Plight of the Notre Dame? | The Conversation

Scrolling through news of the Notre Dame fire on social media feeds was like watching a real-time archive of grief. Why do some heritage places elicit more […]

Source: Why Are We so Moved by the Plight of the Notre Dame? | The Conversation