Friday, October 12, 2018 | Reflections
What kind of terrain is the soil of my heart? I like to believe it is good soil into which the seeds of Jesus’ love fall, germinate, receive ample light and air and nourishment, and produce a hundredfold harvest. But when I am not kidding myself and acknowledge the...
Thursday, October 11, 2018 | Reflections
Jesus reassured his disciples and followers that he was not intent on destroying the law or the prophets but rather had come to fulfill them. Now Paul, standing before the Roman governor, must also convince the powers that be that the Way is not a cult and he has not...
Wednesday, October 10, 2018 | Reflections
I remember when we used to wait for things—for a handwritten letter, for photos to be developed, for the busy signal on the landline to stop chiming. In this current climate of instant gratification, we can get what we want with startling immediacy. The idea of...
Tuesday, October 9, 2018 | Reflections
In this dramatic scene, we are presented with Jesus as zoopoieo, a Greek word meaning “life-maker.” These time-stopping moments in the gospel accounts underscore Jesus’ most compelling attribute: his power to restore life to what is dead.In Jesus’ time, slaves and...
Monday, October 8, 2018 | Reflections
I caught one of my students cheating on a test. She had been struggling for a long time, barely passing the class. Driven by desperation, she took a chance and lost. Recalling my own failing math grade in high school, I understood my student’s anguish. Together with...
Sunday, October 7, 2018 | Reflections
Every Christmas Eve, my rector would tell the story of Jesus’ nativity as experienced by the animals in the manger. A gaggle of small children, attired in their Christmas finery, sat around the rector, enraptured as they listened to various animal sounds and...
Saturday, October 6, 2018 | Reflections
Martin Luther King advised those who wanted to participate in civil rights marches and lunch counter sit-ins: “If you can’t be nonviolent, don’t get in it.” Flesh-shredding water from fire hoses, snarling police dogs, and cigarette burns would test the resolve of...
Friday, October 5, 2018 | Reflections
“Flattery is all right—so long as you don’t inhale,” said former United Nations Ambassador Adlai Stevenson II. We all like to receive praise—performers, artists, and writers thrive on it; students and employees need—and benefit—from it. We feel dejected when praise is...
Thursday, October 4, 2018 | Reflections
For the ancient Israelites, expressing love for God is the top priority of their personal and public lives. The laws, including those about offerings and sacrifices, form the basis for expressing love for God. But the Israelites begin to worship other gods while...
Wednesday, October 3, 2018 | Reflections
As in our own context, tax collectors in ancient Judea get no respect. Seen as traitors, tax collectors in Jesus’ context—especially those who are Jews—are working for the Romans. Their communities feel that they are collaborating with the Roman occupation. The...
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 | Reflections
As I write this reflection, our nation is roiled and riven by contentious debate over certain Civil War-era statues in public parks and government offices. Some feel the statues should be destroyed and consigned to the scrap heaps of history. Others would like to see...
Monday, October 1, 2018 | Reflections
Paul has just told the elders in Ephesus that he is “captive to the spirit” and has no idea what will happen to him once he arrives in Jerusalem. Further, Paul said that he does not value his own life: He only wants to testify to the good news of God in Christ. I...
Sunday, September 30, 2018 | Reflections
In college, I heard about people joining Christian accountability groups. I later found out that some of these groups were really friends self-reporting their sinful behaviors—swearing, drinking, sex and lustful thoughts—but without an accountability or expectation of...
Saturday, September 29, 2018 | Reflections
A member of my family of choice recently changed his last name to St. Michael—he shares his birthday with the feast day of Saint Michael and All Angels. As we remember Saint Michael, a being that moved to and from this life and the great beyond, it is fitting to...
Friday, September 28, 2018 | Reflections
I have lived in an intentional community for the last four years. Together, we are covenanted and committed to sharing our life rhythms and acting within shared values and common work. The five of us are, like the early church, attempting to work out lives as...
