interreligious chaplaincy Archives - Page 2 of 2 - United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

June 29, 2018

Bible interfaith interreligious chaplaincy ministry Theology theology and the arts Voice

When Storytelling Holds the World: Passover Reflections on Maggid.

A little over a week ago, I led a small seder on the second night of Pesach (Passover). The second seder can be hard to lead because the specialness and holiness of the first often turns into redundancy when the ritual is repeated on the second night. Planning the seder, I was concerned wit distinguishing it from the preceding night at my parents’ house. I was thinking about what we covered the previous seder and what, because of the larger group of people, we might have missed. (more…)

June 29, 2018

interreligious chaplaincy Theology united faculty Voice

Interreligious Chaplaincy: Who are you, really? And what do you do?

(Nun and Chaplain walking and talking) (more…)

June 29, 2018

Activism interreligious chaplaincy justice social transformation Voice

Consultations from India to Minneapolis: a United Student’s Reflections.

In winter 2018, I took a trip to India with a group of students from the seminary, visiting sacred sites of 7 religions – Baha’i, Buddhist, Muslim, Jain, Sikh, Christian and Hindu. The trip was called The Sacred Sites of India. It was amazing. There are temples and sacred art everywhere, pilgrims and worshipers everywhere. India is busy, beautiful, colorful, crowded –– filled with delicious vegetable curries, fresh fruit, palm trees, silk saris, pashmina shawls. There are men building roads, men building buildings, men with sewing machines on the street making clothes while you wait, men pulling people around in bicycle taxis, men cooking on gigantic platters in the street, men slicing coconuts with machetes. men carrying huge loads on their backs and on their bicycles. I have never seen so many men working so hard. (more…)

June 29, 2018

Bible interreligious chaplaincy Judaism social justice Voice

“Is this Naomi?” Reading into the Book of Ruth on Shavuot

On Shavuot, an annual two day holiday which just ended this last Monday, Jews across the world study the Book of Ruth. A prominent theme of the story is chesed or loving-kindness. Ruth’s devotion to Naomi is an act of chesed; Boaz’s aid and eventual marriage to Ruth is likewise an example of chesed. Using a hermeneutic of chesed is traditional in interpreting this story, with much grounding in rabbinic criticism. However while it is a story of acts of kindness, it also a story of an emotional, psychical conflict in the character of Naomi. (more…)