Snark Can’t Save Us
“Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” The criminal, being crucified alongside Jesus, can’t help himself from joining in the mocking.* Even as he begins to suffocate under the weight of his own hanging body, he uses his precious breath to harangue Jesus, sneering and snarky to the very end. Snark is interpersonal junkfood: […]
Sing Us The Song
I’m frightened by all that’s happening. I remember reaching for my mother when I was scared. It was her lullabies that comforted me. Now I want to fight: give me someone to blame. But that’s not the way. It’s like drinking poison and hoping that the other person gets sick. With a dis-membering fear, a […]
Believing and Not Believing
The Sadducees ask Jesus a question about a reality they do not believe.* So do we. We pray for our next calling, a new community, our purpose in life, but doubt they even exist for us. We ask for more faith, more trust, more hope—yet we don’t believe they are possible. At least not possible […]
Loving Our Enemies
A long, long time ago, long before I was baptized in my 40s, I thought that I wanted to be a saint. I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, of course, but I had some inkling that it meant more than simply being good. In Luke’s version of the beatitudes,* Jesus gives a list of […]