By Jeremiah, Eugene And Me This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay […]

By Jeremiah, Eugene and Me This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Stand at the gate of the LORD’s house and there proclaim this message: ” `Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. This is what the LORD […]

By Jeremiah, Eugene and Me.  “Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, `I am only a youth.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid […]

 By Jeremiah, Eugene and Me “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” 1.5 v    ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.’ Eugene Peterson says ‘Jeremiah’s life didn’t start with Jeremiah. He entered the […]

 By Jeremiah, Eugene and Me. In his book on Jeremiah, Eugene Peterson says the book of Jeremiah begins with a personal name, Jeremiah. It begins “The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. ” 1.1 Naming focuses the essential. Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy says “the name is […]

Part Five – What ways can we become more nonmaterialistic? 1. Withdrawing The philosopher, Epicurus, has become the patron saint of “Epicureanism”, and “Epicureanism” has become a by-word for hedonism, narcissism and bacchanalianism.   But, in spite of the spin put on his ideas, Epicurus actually advocated a simple life of simple pleasures. He said, ‘Of the […]

Part Four – What resources do we have to help us kick our addiction to materialism? The Yearning For Balance report prepared for the Merck Family Fund in the US in 1995 reached four important conclusions.  1. People “believe materialism increasingly dominate(s) life crowding out  a more meaningful set of values centred on responsibility, family, and […]

Part Three – Why does the pursuit of materialism lead to unhappiness?  As we become more materialistic, we are less likely to make healthy choices for the welfare of other people in the world.  In 2002 there was a major independent review of aid called The Reality of Aid.  It  was subtitled ‘Never Richer, Never […]

Part Two –  Why does the pursuit of materialism not lead to happiness?  One reason that wealth, status and success do not lead to happiness is that the very idea – that the pursuit of wealth, status and success could lead to happiness – is an illusion.  Tim Kasser says’commercials often present a far rosier […]

  Part One – What is materialism – its causes and consequences?  Materialism is simply an obsession with materialistic values at the expense of non-materialistic values. It involves an ongoing materialistic orientation towards    body image and appearance, private property and finance, public recognition and success, at the expense of an ongoing non-materialistic orientation towards  personal acceptance and […]

I’ve been fasting during Ramadan with my Muslim friends and been reading the story of Daniel for my reflections. The book of Daniel was probably completed c. 530 B.C., shortly after the capture of Babylon by Cyrus in 539 [1] The book is made up primarily of historical narrative (found mainly in chs. 1-6) and apocalyptic […]

  Aloysius Pieres, says that: “Every religion, Christianity included, is at once a sign and a countersign of the kingdom of God; that the revolutionary impetus launching a religion into existence is both fettered and fostered by the need for an ideological formulation; that its institutionalisation both constrains and conserves its liberative force; that religion, […]