On Good Friday, I try and live in that place of loss and uncertainty, that place of Mary. Only then am I able to scratch the surface of the wonder and miracle that is the Resurrection. Read more
On Good Friday, I try and live in that place of loss and uncertainty, that place of Mary. Only then am I able to scratch the surface of the wonder and miracle that is the Resurrection. Read more
“He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s son’”. Thus the chief priests, scribes and elders mocked Jesus as he hung from the cross. They assumed that Jesus had spoken literally when he identified himself as the son of God. And they assumed that God is a supernatural being who violates the laws of nature at his whim. But when Jesus said “I am the door”, did he mean... Read more
When Mother Teresa’s private journals were published after her death, the surprising revelation was that she spoke of long periods where the sense of the absence of God was more real to her than God’s presence. In Mark’s version of the passion narrative Jesus utters a single saying from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The cry echoes the feelings of the Psalmist (Ps. 22:1). It’s a question, not a declaration and it reflects the... Read more
The end of the Gospel of Mark is, shall we say, indecisive. Mark’s account of the resurrection begins with the women going to anoint Jesus body and discovering the stone rolled away, Jesus’ body gone missing, and “a young man, dressed in a white robe” sitting in the tomb. This man tells them not to be alarmed, as if that’s possible under the circumstances, and announces that Jesus “has been raised.” The young man instructs them to go and tell... Read more
Like most six-year-olds on their first day of school, I remember sitting excited and terrified. My desk was made of grey metal and blonde wood, with a square laminate tabletop angled in such a way that your pencil rattled down if it wasn’t placed in the dark groove. In the right corner was my name, hand-written in black ink on a narrow, white piece of paper scotch-taped to the desk. As a class, we sat with our backs rigid in... Read more
Found Objects The following is an excerpt from the Palm Sunday chapter in my book A Homemade Year. I thought it fitting for this 6th week of Lent, when we are all a little rusty and dusty ourselves from wandering in the wilderness for almost forty days, that we remember the more humble beginnings of the pomp and pageantry that we now call Holy Week. That we all remember that in the end we will be found. There are people in this... Read more
Taxes are the way that people of faith care for the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens, by funding our government’s social safety-net services. Charity through faith communities and other groups is a vital supplement, but no replacement, for the role we give our government in meeting critical human needs. The “Blessing of Taxes” in worship is a sacred re-affirmation of the blessings that flow from the taxes we pay: services to the poor and ailing; schools, roads, sanitation; public... Read more
We recently received a message on the Raven Foundation Facebook Page that raised a great question about God and evil. Below is the question and my response. I’d love to know how you would respond to this question! The Question: …I’ve enjoyed your blog as well and the studies on the Bible are wonderful. I wanted to ask you about a text in Isaiah 45:7 that states that God is the author of evil. How can I interpret it with a Mimetic hermeneutic?... Read more
Imagine a courtroom where the worst kind of criminal has just been convicted of a heinous crime. Everyone wants to see this guy sentenced to the full extent of the law. Everyone, that is, except his widowed mother. Before the judge is able to make public how justice is about to be served, the tearful woman stands up in the back of the room and waves at the judge. The judge acknowledges the woman and invites her to approach the... Read more
This is the fifth in a series of posts where I re-imagine Jesus’ five big sermons as TED Talks, in which he Educates people in God’s new Design for a world that runs on the Technology called love. This post is an interpretive paraphrase of Matthew 24. ——————————————————————- When I say our civilization is on the brink of destruction, most people don’t believe me. But for those who do, their next questions are always “When?” and “How will we know?” First of all, don’t freak out when the Bible-thumping crazies... Read more
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