Matthew
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Ash Wednesday: Isaiah 58:1-12; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Isaiah gives voice to God. God is amazed at our epistemic closure.
by James Alison
New light on the Epiphany
Sometimes we grow weary of the same texts as they come up year after year. We may even suggest that maybe this year we should not do the Christmas pageant, but a different story instead.
Bad idea.
Advent's "why"
“I’m a Christian,” said my oldest daughter, seven-year-old Miriam.
“Really?” I replied. “So what makes you believe that you are a Christian?”
“Because I love God, God loves me, and I know Jesus came back to life after dying on the cross.”
Dignity and choice
How do we move from Jesus' core ethical mandate to the complex issues we face in the modern world?
Blogging toward Epiphany: A life and death matter
The Old Testament and gospel readings for Epiphany function as point and counterpoint. Isaiah offers a word of great comfort to those who have been so long in darkness. Impoverished as the hearers have been, honor and fortune are on their way. It's a message of rejoicing: the light that has dawned will make all who see it radiant.
Blogging toward Epiphany: A life and death matter
The Old Testament and gospel readings for Epiphany function as point and counterpoint. Isaiah offers a word of great comfort to those who have been so long in darkness. Impoverished as the hearers have been, honor and fortune are on their way. It's a message of rejoicing: the light that has dawned will make all who see it radiant.
Prayer concern: Remembering all the victims of war
Each week my church includes a prayer for the families of American soldiers who have died. As the names are read, I try to hold them in prayer. But I have wrestled with these prayers.
Glimpse of the holy: Advent with a toddler
I decided our family's Christmas would be simple and spirit-centered. Green to parenting, I defined spiritual as anything that allowed me a minute to reflect on what, beyond the laundry, mattered.
Pearl of great price: A girl claims her faith
On Sundays, my mother stayed home and read the paper. Yet she insisted that we kids go to church.
Scrappers
It’s scary. Sometimes, we Scrappers have to swallow our pride in order to start working with the institution that turned us away. Often, Scrappers develop autonomy and a certain voice that we fear we'll lose if we move into partnership with an established organization. We worry that the structure will steal our ideas and they'll have the money and power to pull them off—without us.
The birds made nest in its branches
I shared today in church a few of parables from Matthew 13: mustard seed, yeast, treasure, pearl. I tried to just tell them as stories: very little editorial commentary or explanation, just the stories.
Virtues of knowing
The pastor was prepared for questions about the Transfiguration. Instead, one first grader asked, "what does 'obviously' mean?"
Our relationship with Caesar
In my state of South Carolina, we have a long history of not wanting anybody to tell us what to do with our land, our possessions, or our money. This has created a sense of fierce independence, as history bears out.
Sunday, October 16: Matthew 22:15-22
According to Isaiah, God has a tattoo!