All rights reserved
© Rosalind C Hughes and over the water, 2011-2026. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Rosalind C Hughes and over the water, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing
https://bookstore.upperroom.org/Products/1921/a-family-like-mine.aspxWhom Shall I Fear: Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence
https://www.amazon.com/Whom-Shall-Fear-Questions-Christians/dp/0835819671-
Recent Posts
Archives
Categories
RevGalBlogPals
Meta
Author Archives: Rosalind C Hughes
Inspire
Why wait for inspiration when before the breath that catches on creation, shucks life into eternity, expires before the face of God aspired the Spirit had already taken wing, hefting feathers into flight, breaching the horizon of the first Word, advent of the … Continue reading
We talked about this
Shackled to the shadows of a brutalist building, words barely grazing our lips, we talked about this. Our breath stirred the air, that sabbath exhalation at the end of creation; the wordless sigh of God.
Posted in current events, poetry, prayer
Leave a comment
Why I take pictures of cats
Above the Monastery in Petra, signs direct visitors to some of the very Best Views.
We scrambled towards the Best View in the World.
It was a very good view. There was also, of course, a small cat. Continue reading
Trust
A man whose last name we didn’t know, whom we had met last night, pointed out a narrowing canyon and said, “Walk that way. I’ll meet you on the other side.” Continue reading
Posted in spiritual autobiography, story
Tagged Holy Land, Jordan, sabbatical, Wadi Rum
Leave a comment
Dead Sea Prayer
Floating in brine designed not for propagating but for pickling; Suspended between peace and petrification, love and devotion. When will your waters break afresh, bringing a new creation to its first astonished breath?
Morning prayer
A rabbit, startled by the
gas-powered scythe scuttered,
white tail exposed,
exiting garden right. Continue reading
Salt and sabbatical
But that is the theology of Thomas the Tank Engine, who longs only to hear the Fat Controller call him “a useful little engine.” It is not the theology found in the Bible nor in the Word of God, Jesus the Christ, who celebrates the meek and the helpless, the poor in spirit and the hopeless, the errant and the outcast, the ungodlike. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, prayer, sermon
Tagged James 5:13-20, Jesus, Mark 9:38-50, theology, Thomas the Tank Engine, Year B Proper 21
Leave a comment
Conjuring Esther
Esther has become difficult to read. Her story makes me angry and afraid. We read it like a fairytale. But like so many fairytales, it teems with themes of horror dressed up in satin and silk. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon preparation, story
Tagged #ChurchToo, #metoo, Esther, sex trafficking
2 Comments
Fear of God
I am a professional at proclaiming the promises of God. I make excuses not to put God to the test. Continue reading
Posted in spiritual autobiography, story
Tagged Holy Land, Jerusalem, pilgrimage, sabbatical
Leave a comment
The great and the good
And now Jesus was stuck on the floor with a sleeping baby, his hands full, his feet with no feeling left in them, and the child’s mother had gone back to work. There was nothing for it but to continue to wait on the baby, serving it with patience and with love. … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged children, church, greatness, Jesus, love, Mark 8:27-38, Year B Proper 20
Leave a comment
over the water 