Tag Archives: way of the cross

Succession

Arguing succession and success,was the prophetic failure of deatha threat to their ambition, or of what were they afraid: the banality of the cross,perverse instinct of humankind to kill, to crush instead of to create; or the riposte of otherworldly … Continue reading

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Get thee behind, Satan

A piercing crown of loneliness, seductive pain plays behind the eyes; a weary hand passes over as though palming pennies for the dead. Easier to surrender now to sleep and rise in glory than to die. Who then, though, to … Continue reading

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Unhinged

I am a gate, I swing this way and that, inviting you to step into my dance, leading with the song you have heard before: creak and sigh of hungry humanity herded like sheep by fear and faith by turns. … Continue reading

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Triduum

While the dough was doing its thing, I went out to the forge, made one more cross out of gun barrels. Continue reading

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Christ, the king we need

At the end, as at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus was subjected to the taunts and contempt of the tempter. The voices that surrounded him invited him to abdicate his position as one of us, Emmanuel, God with us; … Continue reading

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Are we there yet?

There is nothing in Christ’s story that would justify our sacrifice of children, women, grocery shoppers, police officers, and passers by to defend our right to reserve weapons of violence to ourselves. On the contrary, the resurrection is God’s ultimate judgement on the violence that nailed Jesus to the cross. The resurrection is God’s utter negation and reversal of all that would kill the beloved. Continue reading

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Love, lies, and blessing

We can protect our tongues from bitterness and our souls from shame by keeping to the truth, and holding fast to the hope that Christ has set before us, and following him, step by step, word by word, in the way of the cross, the way of God’s unimaginable love, for all whom God has made in the image of the living God. Continue reading

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Overcome

What should a disaster preparedness plan for a church look like? Continue reading

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Godsplaining

This, the Christian story, the Gospel story, is the story within which we live, and move, and have our being. This is our story. Continue reading

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Gateway Jesus

The readings are for “Good Shepherd Sunday,” fourth of Easter, 2017 I have some sympathy with Jesus’ original audience, who heard him speak of sheep and shepherds, gates and gatekeepers, and wondered what he might mean. So he tries to … Continue reading

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