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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-
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Author Archives: Rosalind C Hughes
A prayer for St Patrick’s Day
He returned. I can’t get over that: he got away, he got free, he came home. Then he returned, to the scene of his slavery, to the landscape of his discontent, to the house of his enemies. He returned, not for … Continue reading
In memoriam
From the edge of the cliff we see no horizon. Earth, air, water merge, solid state dissolves, breath condenses, dessicates; we lick salt out of the sky. I drive him to the airport. Lumbering hulls filled with gear and stuff; … Continue reading
Posted in image, poetry
Tagged bereavement, family, grief, long-distance relationship
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Earth, oil, ashes, and a pound of precious nard
I have anointed people for death, and I think Mary was right to get in early, because when I return, a few days later, or a week, I do not come bearing precious nard. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged anointing, clergy, funerals, Holy Week, John 12:1-8, Mary of Bethany, Palm Sunday, Year C Lent 5
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Running away
A ghost is following me … Continue reading
Jesus, Mary, and Judas
Poor, jealous Judas, love-lorn puppy, eyes stinging from the stench and from the memory: “See how he loved him!” they said when Jesus wept, and now this woman spilling fragrant death all over. Her sister rattles the plates on purpose. Mary, rapt … Continue reading
Year C Lent 4: life and death
It is such a familiar story, and one which we love: God running to us, skirts hitched up, “my child! My child!” It is all the good news that we need. We were dead but are alive again, by the … Continue reading
The prodigal God
Waiting for the God to come home; if I saw her on the road would I run, hitching up my skirts, fire up the pyre, melt the golden calf, sacrifice my unbelief, my cold soul on the altar of her … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged God, Luke 15:11-32, parable, prodigal son, repentance, Year C Lent 4
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A cynical preacher on the prodigal parable
Every story has a point of view. I knew that family. I would have told their story a little differently than Jesus did. I would have told you a little more. The kid was a chancer, a gambler, an addict. … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon preparation
Tagged addiction, cynical preacher, family, Jesus, Luke 15:11-32, parable, prodigal son, Revelation 22:1, Year C Lent 4
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Year C Lent 3: self-examination and repentance
Lest ye repent, says Jesus, you will all perish as they did. It was the first soundbite of Jesus’ campaign trail, his initial mission statement: Repent, for the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Our exhortation … Continue reading
over the water 