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Category Archives: lectionary reflection
Dramatic irony
I find myself drawn to the contrast between reports this week that some military commanders are framing the war against Iran as an effort to bring about the end times, as though we may decide these things for God, in our wisdom; the contrast between that and Jesus’ words to the woman that the hour is already come, quietly, unnoticed over a cup of water, when reconciliation happens, and the truth of God’s love for the world, in all of its invented factions and fractions, has been revealed. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer
Tagged Armageddon, dramatic irony, Jesus, John 3:1-17, John 4:1-17, Samaritan woman, war, woman at the well, Word, year a lent 2, Year A Lent 3
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The well
Fed by generations, torrents of history running wild within the earth, the holy ground shaped and watered by the tears of war and weddings, piety and pity. Still waters run deep within the earth, seep between the shoulders of the land, shrugging off the stories that we … Continue reading
Amongst the Babel of war
We too often misunderstand, I think, what it means to become like God. We build our towers, our satellites in the sky, posing as heavenly bodies, the better to crater and control the earth. We rain down judgement as though … Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon preparation, story
Tagged Genesis 11:1-9, Iran, John 3:1-17, war, year a lent 2
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Nicodemus has insomnia
He couldn’t sleep for the moon light streaming through creation, for the sound of the wind sighing over a sea too deep for words, for the shiver when he heard him speak liberty as though it were at hand,the shock of justice overturned, the taste of mercy … Continue reading
Stay (Transfiguration)
Less a trick of the Lightcondensing out of the cloud, each droplet its own world of shapes and shades, ghosts of the martyred, those sidekicks of salvation, dissipating with their breath than the Light of the world condensing creation, ancestors and angels,witnesses and wantons in one bright moment … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, preparing for Sunday with poetry, sermon preparation
Tagged Epiphany, hope, Last Sunday after the Epiphany, light of the world, Luke 9:28-36, Mark 9:2-8, martyrs, MAtthew 17:1-9, Transfiguration, Valley of the shadow of death
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The baptism of Jesus
Isaiah 42:1-9, Matthew 3:13-17 Jesus’ ministry is bookmarked by humility. From his humble birth and early childhood as a child of refugees, seeking asylum in a foreign land. And here, coming to John for baptism, the Lord of all has … Continue reading
Intended
That was the vision in which Joseph placed his faith and his family: that God is with us, God’s promises endure forever. It didn’t make life easier, by any means. God knows it didn’t remove the obstacles of grief and the graft and grimness of the world or the wilderness, its empires, its wars, its little kings.
But what it did mean is that he, Joseph, spent the rest of his days in the close and intimate presence of the love of God among us, Jesus. Continue reading
Posted in current events, holy days, homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
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Wise
By the time you reached the star-struck place
you were ready to crawl in on bended knees
and babble your praises like a newborn;
for the foolishness of God’s incarnation
was wiser than you or I ever could imagine. Continue reading
Advent I
It is not as simple as the poet makes it sound to transform the form of metal, a sword into farm equipment. Just hit it with a hammer, the prophecy implies, and all will fall, seeds into their furrows and … Continue reading
Seven
And then, imagine it from her point of view: seven lifetimes of love, regret, loss, laughter. Seven lifetimes of abuse – pray not. Seven lifetimes of blessing, despite the woes, hope despite it all. Seven lifetimes and here, in eternity, … Continue reading
