The Last of the Brooding Miserables by Mary Karr Lord, you maybe know me best by my odd laments: My friend drew the garage door tight, lay flat on the cold cement, then sucked off the family muffler to stop the voices in his head. And Logan stabbed in a fight, and Coleman shot, and the bright girl who pulled a blade the width of her own soft throat, and Tom from the virus and Dad from drink--Lord, the many-headed hurts I mind. I study each death hard that death not catch … [Read more...]

From the 8th century Irish monastic poet, Blathma ...The sun concealed its proper light; it lamented its lord. A swift cloud went across the blue sky, the great stormy sea roared. The whole world became dark, great trembling came on the earth; at the death of noble Jesus great rocks burst open. Jerusalem suddenly cast up the dead from ancient burial; in the hour in which Jesus suffered death the veil of the temple was rent. A fierce stream of blood boiled until the bark of the every … [Read more...]

On John 13:36 - 14:7 ...They have just been told that one of their company is a traitor. They have seen Judas go out into the night. They have heard Peter warned that he will deny his master. It is therefore to a very deeply troubled group that Jesus says: "Let not your hearts be troubled." How could they fail to be troubled? Jesus himself was "troubled in spirit" (13:21) by the presence of treachery in his company. But now he gives them a command which echoes the repeated words of the … [Read more...]

The Binding by Cathy Song We love them more than life, these children who are born to us. How did Mary endure it? It was more than she bargained for, the white lily light, the passive acceptance of the sacred seed. For the daughter of the well at dusk, it was a moment of vanity. He had taken notice. He was like the stranger who rides into town, who in his worldliness sees the gullible girl and sweeps her off her feet. He takes her by storm, there is nothing subtle about … [Read more...]

Isaiah 50:4-10 (TNIV) The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be … [Read more...]

O Lord Jesus Christ, who on this day entered the rebellious city which later rejected you: We confess that our wills are just as rebellious, that our faith is often more show than substance, that our hearts are in need of cleansing. Have mercy on us, Son of David, Savior of our lives. Help us to lay at your feet all that we have and all that we are, trusting you to forgive what is sinful, to heal what is broken, to welcome our praises, and to receive us as your own. Amen. (copyright © 2011 … [Read more...]