Holding the Hot Potato
When Jesus told parables, he often avoided straightforward hero/villain figures. The prodigal son and his brother, the shrewd manager, the unjust judge — Jesus generally gives us surprisingly complex characters to wrestle with in his short stories. But the unforgiving debtor: obviously a bad guy.* He receives the mercy of the king, and then turns […]
Understanding Doesn’t Heal
I’m a sucker for self-help books with a spiritual or cosmic thread. I love to learn and it’s been a relatively harmless addiction. My quest has been to understand my purpose and to live with the consequences of my choices. But what could Jesus possibly mean when he talks of letting go of one’s life […]
When the Winds Come
I was out for a walk on a beautiful early summer day, listening to an episode of On Being with Barbara Brown Taylor, one of my favorite writers on matters of faith. She was talking about how, no matter whether we are “spiritual” or not, we have everyday opportunities to experience reverence – if we’re looking for it. […]
Walking on Water
As the deadline for this piece steadily approached, I struggled to find a fresh way into the familiar story of Jesus inviting Peter to join him on top of some stormy waves* and kept coming up with an empty net. One day, an idea floated out of the depths of memory, and I wrote, One […]
