Death With Dignity?

A. Unabashed Pacifist:

It seems that peace rides on a butterfly’s wings.

B. Unabashed Christian:

Holy One,

Church bells yesterday did not toll because you’ve died. They did not toll in mourning. They tolled because you are alive and active in this world. The bells continue to toll for you because we use every means we can to express our joy and praise, and the loud bells send their song farther than our voices can carry. You hear both, but more of us hear the bells – and we need to hear the bells tolling in joy.
Amen

C. Un-quoting Jesus:

“Yes, I like the idea of death with dignity. But it doesn’t always happen, Thomas.”

[The holes, Thomas. But He never said it.]

D. Blog: Shouting Doesn’t Help

I’ve heard shouting preachers in my time, but none of what they said got through to me. I never get over the fact that they’re shouting at me. I guess they don’t believe the idea that God speaks in a still small voice.

I’ve concluded that the more a preacher shouts, the less he (or she) has that’s worth saying. The shouting, they seem to think, makes it seem more important. The shouting is an attempt to mask the insignificance of their message, to cover the fact that they have nothing new or creative or profound to say. The result, in me, is that their message does not penetrate; the words are so loud that they just go in one ear and run right out the other.