Category Archives: lectionary reflection

Postponing Pentecost reflections

“How can they be drunk?” asks Peter, in all innocence. “It’s only nine o’clock in the morning!” And every time, I have to smile, or smirk, or weep at his innocence, or naïveté. As in the rest of the gospel … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection, sermon preparation | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Troubling comfort

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:34 Today’s Daily Office reading does not promise that “all shall be well, and all manner of things shall … Continue reading

Posted in lectionary reflection | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blessed are the pure in heart

From this morning’s Daily Office readings: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. I like that. I would like to see God. I would like to see God more clearly. I would like to be able … Continue reading

Posted in lectionary reflection | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One verse, (third of) three translations

[Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness:] Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; [have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.] The third translation of Psalm Four, Verse One (see yesterday’s and yesterday’s yesterday’s … Continue reading

Posted in lectionary reflection, other words | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One verse, (second of) three translations

(See yesterday’s post for the first translation …) Second, the translation found in the Book of Common Prayer: [Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause;] you set me free when I am hard-pressed; [have mercy on … Continue reading

Posted in lectionary reflection, other words | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One verse, three translations

Not even, really, one verse, but a fraction, a phrase, a few words lost between languages, wondering how to tell us the truth about God. First, the Revised Standard Version of the first verse of the Psalm assigned for the … Continue reading

Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“Thomas Sunday” syndrome

The Bible tells the story of God’s relationship with God’s creation, the Divine action in the world. From the beginning, when God spoke creation into being, to the end, when God will recreate the new heavens and the new earth, … Continue reading

Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon preparation | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Easter

Someone called John tells an Easter story: It was dark. It was so early, it was still late, but she couldn’t sleep. It was too still, too cold, too dark and silent. So she went to be with him in … Continue reading

Posted in lectionary reflection | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

John 3:16

For God so loved the world he came between a mother and the baby at her breast so that each saw the image of love reflected in the other’s eyes God so loved the world that he sat at the … Continue reading

Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Serpent

Fashion your fear in all its detail. Make your sin shiny, sleek and dangerous. Fill its fangs with all the venom you can muster. Gaze upon it, and know that you are greater than the thing which you create.   … Continue reading

Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment