Saturday, November 30, 2019 | Reflections
The violin section is by far the largest cohort in a symphony orchestra, and it’s divided into two subsections: first violins and second violins. A young violinist may have to play “second fiddle” early in her or his career. Often, many career musicians have to accept...
Friday, November 29, 2019 | Reflections
When we encounter a grammatical adversative—yet, but, however, nonetheless—we are tempted to discount everything that comes before it, particularly if what follows the adversative seems more appealing.There is a branch of Christian theology known as apologetics—the...
Thursday, November 28, 2019 | Reflections
In John’s Gospel, there is no account of the institution of the eucharist at the Last Supper. But John’s sixth chapter, the Bread of Life discourse, is no less eucharistic than the institution narratives in the other gospels.Through ordinary elements of ….(View...
Wednesday, November 27, 2019 | Reflections
As a child, I learned about a country called Yugoslavia. Children today learn instead about Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Kosovo. National identities suppressed by centuries of empire building and colonization have...
Tuesday, November 26, 2019 | Reflections
Without denying the abundance of God’s grace or God’s ability to act independently of human will or human behavior, English clergyman Martin Thornton contends that our growth in the life of grace is something we can take responsibility for through persistent, repeated...
Monday, November 25, 2019 | Reflections
We often think of salvation in terms of the question, “Will I go to heaven when I die?” The word itself points to health and wholeness. (It’s the same root as the exclamation salud! when offering a toast.) Salvation also has meaning in the present. Notice...
Sunday, November 24, 2019 | Reflections
Division and enslavement by sin is the default human condition. It dogs us every day of our lives and at every level of our lives. It mars relationships between people in families, in local communities, among nations, and yes, even in churches. In the collect for...
Saturday, November 23, 2019 | Reflections
The biblical authors employ a wide variety of images and metaphors for how God is or what God is like or how things will be when they are made right, but the descriptions only serve to whet our appetite for what lies ahead. One of Isaiah’s favorite metaphors for this...
Friday, November 22, 2019 | Reflections
Judas Maccabeus and his followers have driven the Seleucid occupiers out of Jerusalem and are surveying the damage. One of the holiest parts of the temple, the altar of sacrifice, has been thoroughly defiled. They decide to tear the altar down completely and rebuild...
Thursday, November 21, 2019 | Reflections
Our verse from Matthew makes me think of words from the ordination liturgy in the 1928 edition of The Book of Common Prayer: “And if it shall happen that the…Church, or any Member thereof, do take any hurt or hindrance by reason of your negligence, ye know the...
Wednesday, November 20, 2019 | Reflections
Above the south transept doors in a much-beloved house of worship is a massive stained-glass window that depicts this very scene from our lesson in Revelation. For thirteen years, I offered Evening Prayer in that space most nights, and during much of the year the...
Tuesday, November 19, 2019 | Reflections
Perhaps you have seen the image on social media: It depicts a person carrying a large placard that contains a long list of sinful categories—and the warning that those who find any of their actions on the list can expect to spend an eternity in a very hot hell.Many of...
Monday, November 18, 2019 | Reflections
Judas Maccabaeus succeeds his father Mattathias and wracks up a string of impressive military victories against the Seleucids. Still, when he proposes attacking an army that outnumbers his own, his lieutenants demur. Judas reminds them that they are God’s vessels, and...
Sunday, November 17, 2019 | Reflections
Before offering these words of hope about endurance, Jesus warns his listeners of a time when there will be “wars and insurrections” and all manner of natural disasters. This really gets the conversation going, and Jesus takes the opportunity to explain that things...
Saturday, November 16, 2019 | Reflections
The story told in Maccabees casts Mattathias and his son Judas Maccabeus as heroes. They are commanded by Antiochus IV Epiphanes to abandon the covenant between God and the children of Israel. Mattathias refuses and begins an armed revolt.We don’t take everything the...
