Category: Suffering

Cancer, Death, Faith, Forgiveness, Holly Week, Hope, Jesus, Love, Suffering, Thankfulness, Theology and Life

The Four Things That Matter Most

Gary Furr

  Please forgive me.  I forgive you.  Thank you.  I love you. The wonderful New Testament scholar George Beasley-Murray once wrote that what the gospel of Mark imparts to us in nine verses, the gospel of John spends five chapters.  John 13-17 is the home of some of the richest, most direct and powerful sayings of Jesus.  It is called by scholars, “The Farewell Discourse.”  Words from a dying man to his beloved friends.  He says, “I love you,” again and again in many ways.  He tells them things that need saying.  Death concentrates the mind and focuses life. My … Continue reading The Four Things That Matter Most

Art, Christianity, Competition, Culture, Death, Fame, Hope, Love, Music, Perfectionism, Pop, Suffering2 Comments

Whitney Houston and the Biggest Devil

Gary Furr

Whitney Houston made your heart soar with that magnificent voice.  You kept hoping for her—so lovely, so achingly vulnerable, so fragile.  “Come on back, girl,” you hoped.   In the end, she didn’t.  There will be moralizing—drugs, bad choices, all the rest.  But such times are wrong for moral lessons.  There is a time to criticize, and a time to refrain from criticizing.  A time to learn a lesson, and a time to let the dead alone and mourn. The story of Whitney Houston makes me think how hard it is to care for one’s own soul when there are so … Continue reading Whitney Houston and the Biggest Devil

Art, Cancer, Christianity, Death, Folk, Gospel music, Music, Suffering, Theology and Life

“Death Gospel,” Art and Life

Gary Furr

The website “Sightings” put out an interesting piece this week.  Thanks to my good friend and blog reader Lamon Brown for forwarding this to me.  It is a piece on the music of Adam Arcuragi.  I was unfamiliar with Arcuragi, but immediately was drawn to go read the piece and the NPR interview of Arcuragi.  His album Like a Fire that Consumes All Before It, writes M. Cooper Harriss …has raised interest in the popular-musical category of “Death Gospel,” a metaphysically attuned variety of the Americana genre named by Arcuragi. Death Gospel is not sonically related to “Death Metal” (a … Continue reading “Death Gospel,” Art and Life

Culture, Ethics, Faith, Hope, Justice, Leadership, Love, Suffering, Theology and Life

The Ten Commandments of Change (Part Two)

Gary Furr

I am not sure why I started this.  I have been thinking, at 57, about how disappointing the world, other people, the church, society, politicians, even myself, are.  And yet, I hope.  I still think things can be better.  This is mysterious.  I went to Mount Thinkaboutit to consider this, and came down with two tablets carved in sand, so they can be easily revised if needed, but these are some things I have thought about in my experiences thus far.  Commandments 1-5, unless I have changed them, are in yesterday’s post. 6.  Let it Begin with Me.  A changed … Continue reading The Ten Commandments of Change (Part Two)

Christianity, Culture, Ethics, Hope, humanity, Justice, Leadership, Love, Ministry, Suffering, Theology and Life

The Ten Commandments of Change (Part One)

Gary Furr

Ten Commandments for Working for Change (Kingdom of God Version) I am not sure why I started this.  I have been thinking, at 57, about how disappointing the world, other people, the church, society, politicians, even myself, are.  And yet, I hope.  I still think things can be better.  This is mysterious.  I went to Mount Thinkaboutit to consider this, and came down with two tablets carved in sand, so they can be easily revised if needed, but these are some things I have thought about in my experiences thus far. First Things First.  The ministry of healing requires clear … Continue reading The Ten Commandments of Change (Part One)