Beyond
John called people who do sincere rituals insincerely snakes. He couldn’t get away with that these days but I understand what he means. The insincere were joining the sincere that day at the river to be baptized. They came to that moment motivated by something beyond...
Not Neutral
As a way through the inherent difficulty of following Jesus, some are suggesting that the followers of Jesus be “neutral.” They want to make Jesus, and therefore themselves, more palatable for the world. I understand the temptation. They want a Jesus who does not...
Overflowing
In 1863, the same year as the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, Abraham Lincoln called for the last Thursday in November to be set aside as a day for “Thanksgiving and Praise.” In part, this proclamation was birthed because of the letter writing campaign of a...
First Love
When we make God our first love, God directs that love to the horizontal dimension. To people. Any vertical expression of love for God can be judged by the quality of our horizontal expression of love. That is why Dorothy Day said, “I really only love God as much as I...
Undoing
Naomi and Ruth’s undoing eventually became the circumstances for their Hallelujah. Life, love and abundance came to them but not before death, dislocation and hunger. We love our hallelujahs but not our undoings. But remember, God is present in both. And God deserves...
Determined
Adversity reveals the quality and theology of our determination. That’s the center of the Book of Ruth. A woman, Naomi, loses her husband and her sons and is left with her two daughters-in-law. In an act of compassion, Naomi releases these two women, Orpah and Ruth,...
Restored
The book of Job has 42 chapters, but I especially love the ending. You know, the part where God asks Job questions that only God knows the answer to. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Can you number the clouds? Does the hawk fly by your wisdom,...
Disease
We weep. We lament. We grumble. For the loss of life and livelihood. For the loss of normalcy. All due to Covid. This virus, this disease, has laid us low. You already know this. Still, what I want to ask is, where would we be without Jesus in this pandemic? When...