William Bole (pictured at right) is an American journalist whose “writing is situated on the borders between religion, ethics, politics, and intellectual life.” Recently he wrote a blog post that included several quotes from progressive pastor William Sloane Coffin’s book The Heart is a Little to the Left: Essays on Public Morality (1999), including:
- Socrates was mistaken. It’s not the unexamined life that is not worth living; it’s the uncommitted life.
- It is a mistake to look to the Bible to close a discussion; the Bible seeks to open one.
- The United States doesn’t have to lead the world; it has first to join it. Then, with greater humility, it can play a wiser leadership role.
- Spirituality means to me living the ordinary life extraordinarily well.
- We forget that both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge are deeply rooted in the soil of mystery. The most incomprehensible fact is the fact that we comprehend at all.
So What?
One of the main reasons I write this blog is to encourage people (myself included) to consider matters of faith that matter. I believe that each of the quotes above has the potential to open your mind more fully. Choose the one that speaks most clearly to you and ponder it today. Rather than turning it into a bumper sticker or billboard for quick consumption, carry it with you throughout the day allowing it to open and challenge your thinking and doing.