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Author Archives: Rosalind C Hughes
Maundy Thursday 2015
When I came home, my foot was bleeding from a cut acquired through the wearing of open-toed sandals in a dirty and dangerous city. My mother came into the bathroom where I was going through the tortured motions you have to go through in order to get your own feet under running water and into clean bandages. Without hesitation, my mother took my feet out of my hands, washed them, anointed them with antibiotic ointment, and bandaged them for me. As she worked, she offered from her knees and from her heart her forgiveness, her acceptance, her love; and I found myself doing the same. Neither of us had changed our position, yet love and mercy won, and we were reconciled. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, sermon
Tagged discrimination, family, foot washing, forgiveness, Maundy Thursday
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Everyday holiness
Although they had warned him against her, there was nothing untoward in her touch. The salt of her tears drew out his skin as though it reached back toward her. She dried his toes with her hair, barely tickling; no … Continue reading
Seven Last Words of Christ
He was quoting the twenty-second Psalm, a prayer already centuries old. It is a cry as old as time. It is a cry that echoes all around. And yet, it perseveres, it is repeated only because at its heart, at its depth, at the height of its agony it holds out hope against hope that someone is still listening. That God will, in fact, return, to comfort us.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Continue reading
Posted in meditation
Tagged Church of the Epiphany, crucifixion, Good Friday, Joseph Haydn, Krista Solars, Lent, Peter Douglas, Seven Last Words of Christ
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Killing God
Reduced to absurdity, the burning bush caught flame and I, caught in the inferno, perished, though its leaves still furl. There is no moderation to divine love; It is all or nothing; and giving all, it takes all consuming. Reduced … Continue reading
Posted in poetry, prayer
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Year B Lent 5: love with the lights on
It’s a big decision, to turn on the light, invite someone into your face, into your space, into your truth, your way, your life. Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged community, greeting, Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 12:20-33, newcomers
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Year B Lent 4: snakes alive
There comes a time, Jesus tells Nicodemus, to look up, and to trust God, even though you know there are snakes snapping at your ankles, even though you know there is more work to do, more wilderness to slog through, more sin to solve, more than you can shake a stick at; there comes a time to look up and to trust God, even though what you see looking back is the serpent that bit you; even though what you see is the Son of Man crucified, dying on a cross. For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged Ephesians 2:1-10, For God so loved the world, Jesus, John 3:14-21, Moses, Nicodemus, Numbers 21:4-9, snakes
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Prayer drought
A reflection for the Lenten collection of the Diocese of Ohio. From the day’s readings: “Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who was mute spoke, and the crowds were … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, meditation, poetry, prayer
Tagged Diocese of Ohio, Lent, Luke 11:14, prayer
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Year B Lent 3: Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast
There’s something unusual about the way that John’s gospel tells the story of the cleansing of the temple. Each of the four gospels tells some version of this event, and they are, for biblical accounts, surprisingly close in detail to … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged cleansing the temple, death, Eucharist, ferguson, Jerusalem, Jesus, John, Passover, Selma, Spong, Year B Lent 3
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Pigeon
I like to hang around the fountains, water coolers of the city, where traffic intersects, dropping crumbs of cake and gossip, lies and lives. Few notice me, but in the moment that it takes their breath to fall I have named … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, meditation, poetry, sermon preparation
Tagged ark, creation, dove, fountain, pigeon, sacrifice, temple cleansing, water, Year B Lent 3
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over the water 