Tag Archives: Luke 18:1-8

Nevertheless, God persisted

Posted on October 16, 2022 by Rosalind C Hughes

To persist in prayer, at its foundation, is to persist in our relationship with that God. It is not to lose hope that God’s will will be done, not to turn away to other, more immediate but more corruptible resolutions. This call to persistence is the call of the prophets, to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly beside God, deep in conversation, or indeed in a conversational silence, knowing that our faith is not misplaced. Continue reading →

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Who am I to judge?

Posted on October 12, 2022 by Rosalind C Hughes

The judge of the parable had no regard for anyone, but the God who will pass judgement upon me so loved the world as to become Emmanuel, God with us, to suffer under our unjust judgement, and to die. The God who will, I pray, have mercy upon me hears the cries of the widows to whom I turn a cloth ear, and continues to importune me with opportunities for penitence.  Continue reading →

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On the need to pray, and not to lose heart

Posted on October 20, 2019 by Rosalind C Hughes

I pray so as not to lose that heart of God that keeps insisting that justice is possible, that mercy is reasonable, that resurrection is coming. I pray, not so that I can change anyone else’s mind, let alone God’s, but so that God, by her insistence and irritating persistence can change my own heart and mind, bringing them more in alignment with the will and word of God. I pray so as not to lose heart, to hear over and over and over again that widow’s word that God’s justice is eternal, preexisting, loaded with mercy, and final. Continue reading →

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Persistent blessings

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

If you are following Track 2, you may be interested in the experience of Jacob, who wrestled a blessing from God: May your prayers be heard without harm,     and the intercession of your heart received with gentleness. Otherwise, from … Continue reading →

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Year C Proper 24: On the need to pray always and not to lose heart

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

The days are coming, says the Lord, says Jeremiah, the days are surely coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. I will be their God, and they shall be … Continue reading →

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Back and forth

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

How long, Lord, how long? The days are surely coming; God will not delay. How long, Lord, before justice rolls like a river? God will not delay. How long, Lord, how long? Pray without ceasing, knowing the days are coming….

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The widow’s might

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

I might be tempted call her a nag, or a scold, or a hag, or worse. A woman I knew said, “My husband says I am an advocate for our child; but I know that’s not the word that the … Continue reading →

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Biblical widows and Granny Lyle

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

Granny Lyle was widowed in 1957. For as long as I knew her, she lived alone in a house not her own; she had never lived in her own home, going from her parents into service with the local doctor … Continue reading →

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