Sublime

When we pay attention to practices, we are likely to notice the significance and beauty in small acts of grace and truth. We have a framework for talking about what is good and holy in our ordinary communities, and for seeing how we can strengthen places that might need it. While dealing with practical concerns, practices can also help move our dis

What person who does what this woman does has not been there? How I admire them and cherish them. I see them each day, serving in a variety of ways, dealing with the heartbreaking realities of the poor: frustration; violent transference; physical and mental sickness; rejection; police harassment; loneliness; hunger for food, friendship, and purpose

I want to supplement Willard’s emphasis on the individual practice of the spiritual disciplines with what might be a counterintuitive thesis in our “millennial” moment: that the most potent, charged, transformative site of the Spirit’s work is found in the most unlikely of places—the church!

What counts as social infrastructure? I define it capaciously. Public institutions, such as libraries, schools, playgrounds, parks, athletic fields, and swimming pools, are vital parts of the social infrastructure. So too are sidewalks, courtyards, community gardens, and other green spaces that invite people into the public realm. Community organiz

and helps us to get at the moral and theological commitments that structure our relationships. Practices are at the heart of human communities; they are things “people do together over time to address fundamental human needs.” Every community has practices that hold it together; for Christians, practices can also be understood as responses to the g