Category Archives: story

Betrayal

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

Loose lips sink kisses drunk on Communion wine love’s drowned by desire ______________ Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man.” (Mark 14:44) ______________ Giotto di Bondone, Kiss of Judas [Public … Continue reading →

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Palm Sunday 2018: outsourcing peace

Posted on March 25, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

It is hard to keep up with the Prince of Peace, but I learned a valuable lesson years ago from a philosopher named Tony whose day job was selling burglar alarms. Continue reading →

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Seventeen

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

At ten o’clock on the fourteenth day of the third month of year two thousand eighteen of this portion of our history, twenty-eight days after seventeen of their generation died in one school, in one day, countless students will leave their classes, searching for one more word of covenant, one more promise of life redeemed from the chaos. Continue reading →

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Idols made of metal

Posted on March 9, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

The bronze serpent was not an amulet, but an icon of futility; an emblem of the impotence of evil in the sight of a gracious God.
The modern casting would be an AR-15 made into a museum piece, rendered harmless, useless, toothless by its irrelevance, not empowered by false reverence. Continue reading →

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St David’s

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

Sheer skyfall, blue to blue, plumb-lined from the heavens to the deep measures a cliff, eroded from creation, where only dune-grass and sheep may grow, miraculously rooted as the earth turns. We set out on a narrow path littered with … Continue reading →

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Their cross, our cross

Posted on February 25, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

I have been trying to imagine how the words of Jesus to the pre-resurrection people would have sounded. We cannot hear of the cross without spiritualizing it, sublimating it post-resurrection. To have the same impact today as he had on that crowd in first-century Galilee, what might Jesus say? Continue reading →

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“Startled” is putting it mildly

Posted on February 23, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

“I mention all of this because I am able to consider Donald Trump’s suggestion that teachers in school should carry weapons, recalling my roles as a soldier, an educator and a parent.” Continue reading →

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A perfectly imperfect marriage

Posted on February 22, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

I think John Henry was lonely, and that Christ was as much his consolation as his committed husband.
He approached his ordination like a wedding, with excitement and dread, with joy and cold feet. Continue reading →

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As though

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

Repent! the echoes ricochet off the bible.
I will require a reckoning for your lifeblood,
says the Lord. Continue reading →

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Bruising God

Posted on February 18, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

Just before setting the bow in the sky as a sign of the covenant of mercy between God and all flesh, God tells Noah that since humanity was made in God’s image, God will require a reckoning for our lifeblood. God considers violence against any one of us violence against God’s own self. Continue reading →

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