I feel as if I've read the first three chapters of Genesis a zillion times. As a young adult I read the Bible through each year, starting with Genesis. Then I began following the lectionary, which leads us through the Scriptures every three years. That's a much more meditative pace, but Genesis 1-3 is so … Continue reading Uncentered: How Adam and Eve Reveal the Truth about You, Me and the Middle Tree
A priest who served our parish a few years ago made an unforgettable request of us one Sunday morning. Father Stephen had often reminded us of our material blessings. A joyful Nigerian, he commented many times about how much, in the midst of all our possessions, we Americans complain. This, in a semi-arid mountain valley … Continue reading The Day I Left my Shoes at Church
"Our ravaged world cries out for hands that bear a radical gentleness." You don't often read a heart-stopping line in an Instagram post, but Sarah Clarkson (@sarahwanders) has a way of matching a golden heart with golden words, and her post spoke to the longing in my heart this morning. One of my neighbors hung … Continue reading Seeking Christ’s Radical Gentleness: Sparrowfare Selections for Holy Week
I like open options. Who doesn’t? Even in my spiritual life. Sure, the Bible gives us a moral roadmap for life's big temptations, but once we accept its framework as truth, a zillion miniscule options are still a matter of choice. A menu of spiritual options presents itself each year the week or so before … Continue reading A Little Litany for Lenten Temptations: Choose Life
"Simon, Simon, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat." I find those words some of the most troubling in all scripture. I know what happened next. The night of Christ's execution was the night of Peter's sifting. The overconfident man whose passion for Christ was so strong he proclaimed that … Continue reading Satan’s Sifter: Why Judging Others Is Always Wrong
One of my favorite moments in The Chronicles of Narnia occurs in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when Aslan, the golden-lion Christ figure, breathes life into creatures who had been turned to stone by the White Witch. Having released the statue-captives from bondage, Aslan immediately prepares them for battle: The stone lion Aslan … Continue reading Aslan, Ashes and Jonah: the Incredible Opportunity of a Lenten Prophetic Witness
When Jesus looked at lilies, he saw beauties fit for contemplation. “They don't toil or spin,” he pointed out, “but even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as one of these.” One greater than Solomon had spoken. From eternity, he was “clothed in light as with a garment,” yet the Virgin's fiat gave … Continue reading Christ’s Naked Humility vs. All Our Cloaks and Crowns
Very early in John’s gospel, just after the wedding at Cana and the first cleansing of the temple, we read that "many believed in [Christ] when they saw the signs that he was doing." These sobering words follow: But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and he did not need … Continue reading Human Praise: The Tempered View of Christ
If there was a scripture haunting the protagonist of Flannery O'Connor's "Greenleaf," it was Romans 14:10. For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Religious without humility, Mrs. May--a widow intent on protecting her land--would offer a resolute, "I've worked, I have not wallowed" in the presence of her Judge. Flannery O'Connor … Continue reading Flannery O’Connor Exposes Our Judgmental Hearts, Preparing Us for Grace
When James and John, the "Sons of Thunder," left their nets to follow Christ, their dad stood in the boat and watched them walk away. I've often wondered whether old Zebedee thundered or stood thunderstruck as James and John left the family business, choosing an uncertain future with the Fisher of Men over the inheritance … Continue reading Conversion as Shrinking: Mrs. Zebedee, the Sons of Thunder and a Little Child
