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 …
Tag: Pentecost 17B
Then and Now: Picking Up Our Crosses
Mark 8:27-38 When I was in my first year of seminary, it was ours to translate these powerful, oh-so-familiar words from Greek to English. Indeed, by now these words from Mark’s Gospel have been part of me for so long it is hard sometimes to find anything new to say about what it is to …
“Whoever Wants to Be First…”
Mark 9:30-37 I offer my thoughts today in gentleness to colleagues who climb into the pulpit or rush to the hospital or who are struggling especially at this time of year to keep up with the demands of getting a new program year off the ground. I write this in gentleness and humility, knowing that …
A View From the Other Side of the Pulpit: The Price of Welcoming
Mark 9:30-37 I pulled into the parking lot at the community center at a little after 5 a.m. last Monday morning for the beginning of a new session of my weight training/conditioning class. It struck me that there were fewer spots available than usual but I didn’t think much about it until I climbed the …