Mark 10:17-31 It is theoretically possible, I suppose, to live a ‘flawless’ life and still miss the point of it all. Or to think one has, as seems to be the case in the conversation that plays out between Jesus and the one who catches up with him here at this point in Mark’s Gospel. …
Wondering about Divorce and Welcoming Children and the Kingdom of God…
Mark 10:2-16 Even after all these years of going around and around with the cycles of Gospel readings, I am still and always drawn up short by this one. Oh, one cannot argue with the truth of what is spoken here. Without a doubt, God does not intend that what is meant to be such …
Cutting Off or Tearing Out and the Wholeness God Intends
Mark 9:38-50 Truth be told, I struggle to follow Jesus in his teaching now. Perhaps this is because it is just so much to take in, for we begin with someone casting out demons who is not a follower of Jesus, we move to the acknowledgement that something as simple as a cup of cold …
Welcoming Jesus…
Mark 9:30-37 I attended a community meeting last Wednesday night. The purpose was to introduce the city’s and the university’s new chiefs of police. The purpose was also to continue a dialogue about the apparent rise of violence in the community — much of it centered near the university. More than 350 people crowded into …
Cross-Bearing: 2021
Mark 8:27-38 I am doing something new this year. We have just a small group of young people who are ‘affirming their baptism’ this fall: four fourteen year old’s who will stand before our congregation and claim for their own the faith they have been raised in. Or maybe it is better to understand this …
Driven by Love…
Mark 7:24-37 Love drove her. Of course it did — an elemental, primal kind of love of a parent for a child, a mother for a daughter. Love. And, no doubt, lingering memories of a better time. And hope for all that child could be, surely would have been, had not a demon taken possession …
What Matters and What Doesn’t…
I am sharing an old blog this week as I am on vacation in the days leading up to when I would normally write. While this one was written several years ago, the questions posed seem especially timely given the opportunity we have now to sort through why we do what we do and the …
Words of Eternal Life
John 6:56-69 Some of you know that I officiate a lot of funerals. Certainly for members of the congregation I serve, but also sometimes for the seemingly random one who comes to a funeral home to plan a funeral, wanting a religious service, but having no religious community to call upon. I spent time with …
Mary’s Song in Our Time
Luke 1:46-55 There were tornadoes all around us on Monday afternoon. I was on my way home and had stopped for sweet corn when the sirens first went off. I stepped inside and bagged several ears and took them to the counter to check out. The woman working there told me she heard a funnel …
Bread and Wine, Flesh and Blood Revisited…
I have had a week where I have had to tend to urgent family matters, so I have not had a chance to reflect deeply on next week’s Gospel. As I result, I am sharing again the reflection I offered several years ago. If you are led to reflect on the giving and receiving of …