Glory
Glory* is one of those weird, special, Christian-ish words that rarely gets used in everyday life. While the official definition has something to do with praise and honor, in my mind it is always connected with light. A long, long time ago, when I lived in Jerusalem, I became friendly with a woman that I […]
A Member of the Flock
I don’t like being called a sheep. As a city person, I don’t really know much about sheep, except that they are stupid, dirty, smelly creatures that stand around all day eating grass, willing to follow the crowd even if they are about to run off the cliff. I could be wrong, of course, but […]
Peace Be With You
I can’t help thinking about the last time this passage* came up in the lectionary: April 2020. Five weeks into the pandemic shutdown, our world had been turned upside down. With every passing week, reality seemed to become less and less tethered to… well, reality. Things that had been inconceivable before the pandemic were happening […]
Redemption is Waiting
I struggled and struggled with this passage, the resurrection of Lazarus.* Finally I had to accept there was no getting around it: I have really complicated feelings about this story. If I’m honest, what comes first is the hardest to acknowledge: resentment. I seethe as Jesus justifies letting Martha, Mary, and Lazarus suffer “for God’s glory.” Jesus […]