In Conversation: Jesus, Racism and the Syrophoenician Woman

September 11, 2012 By David Roberts

Last week, I published a lectionary essay exploring the exchange between Jesus and the unnamed Syrophoenician woman. Compared to many of my other posts, it generated a good bit of interest and and even larger bit of interesting conversation. Both on the blog (some 70 comments) and on Facebook, the post got people talking, thinking, conversing, disagreeing. I am really thankful that so many people took the time to engage, and while I cannot feature every single comment and conversation,... Read more

A Liturgy for Sept. 11 (Prayers of the People and a Litany of the Dead)

September 7, 2012 By David Roberts

The 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is Tuesday, and for those remembering that day, I wanted to offer a few prayers I wrote last year, as well as a visual prayer meditation. I hope you will find them challenging, moving and meaningful. The Prayers Today, we pray with the remembrance of tragedy in our minds, with sorrow in our hearts, with longing in our souls. Together, let us pray for the victims of terrorism, war and violence everywhere.... Read more

The Orthodox Death of God

September 4, 2012 By David Roberts

Over the next week, I will be posting a three-part essay on the death of God, my experience of it, and my search for meaning through it. I invite you to walk with me and dialogue with me. Part one, the Foolish Death of God, can be found here. In the 1960s, the notion of the death of God was popularized by Thomas J.J. Altizer, who suggested that on the cross, God died and, through this death, became immanent, breaking... Read more

The Foolish Death of God

August 30, 2012 By David Roberts

Over the next week, I will be posting a three-part essay on the death of God, my experience of it, and my search for meaning through it. I know that much of what I write here intersects with the Death of God movement, but I also hope that I will add something to that conversation as well. I invite you to walk with me and dialogue with me. God has died. And when it happened, I wept. I wept for... Read more

The Rain Bow: A Short Story

May 29, 2012 By David Roberts

Like most of my stories, this one started with a question. What if the rainbow in the Genesis flood myth was an actual bow? The question rose quite naturally as I was re-reading the Epic of Gilgamesh, another flood myth which parallels the Genesis story in remarkable ways, right down to the rainbow promise at the end. Only, in the Gilgamesh flood myth, it’s not called a rainbow, but is referred to as a string of jewels, a necklace in... Read more

Wrestling with the Trinity: Truth, Myth or Metaphor?

May 28, 2012 By David Roberts

My first run-in with trinitarian theology happened sometime around the fifth grade when my Sunday School teacher tried to explain the concept in a way that prepubescent boys would understand. He failed miserably. He used a water metaphor. If three individual drops of water are put into a bowl, he said, they become one, but there are still three drops of water in the bowl. Most of us in the classroom were confused. For a long time, I chalked up... Read more

From Charity to Justice: A Prophetic Reinterpretation of Christian Mission

May 24, 2012 By David Roberts

Reading Katharine Jefferts Schori’s Gathering at God’s Table made me proud to be an Episcopalian in the ordination process. Then again, this is nothing new. Every time I hear Jefferts Schori preach or read her sermons and essays, I am re-energized in my vocation, renewed in my passion and reassured that the Episcopal church is my spiritual home. That’s what a good bishop does. In her new book, Jefferts Schori does the profoundly Episcopalian thing in her book on modern mission... Read more

Liberating Pentecost

May 22, 2012 By David Roberts

God speaks. And the people understood. This confused them. In a nutshell, this is Pentecost, or at least, the most intriguing detail of the famous Acts story. But too often this significant detail gets lost in the celebration of rushing wind, fiery tongues and the so-called birth of the church. The disciples had gathered in Jerusalem during the festival of Shavuot. Pilgrims from around the known world had gathered for the celebration when suddenly the disciples burst forth into... Read more

Obama, Marriage Equality and the Political Ploy of Liberation

May 10, 2012 By David Roberts

It is a political ploy. Of that, I’m fairly convinced. President Barack Obama became the first president to endorse marriage equality Wednesday. But, of course, it wasn’t the first time Obama has endorsed marriage equality. About 15 years ago, Obama described his position this way: “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” In the intervening years, he changed his tune, hewing toward a more conservative position the closer he got to the presidency.... Read more

Still Waters and Death Valleys: A Lectionary Meditation

April 25, 2012 By David Roberts

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right path for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall... Read more