19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, RCL)

In my Bible, this week's reading from Ephesians bears the title, "Rules for the New Life." The text reads like a laundry list of more or less unrelated instructions. Put away falsehood. Speak the truth, be angry but don't sin, and do not make room for the devil. Give up stealing and work honestly. Speak only what is useful for building up; do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Put away bitterness, anger, slander, and malice.

We are to work honestly, work with our hands, and work so that we can share with those in need.

Social microhistories can capture big ideas. I’d like to write one on pickles, which are as fundamental to civilization as anything in Chesterton’s pockets.

Offering the elements to the unbaptized can be seen as a development and not a revolution, but it is a significant change. Is it a good one?

What makes kindness a distinctive mark of the new creation?

Jesus offers signs of life in the midst of death.

Late in life, my mother confessed that she never enjoyed cooking. "But," she said, "I did take satisfaction in serving simple meals to my family." Well, there's no such thing as a simple meal anymore.

For decades, my students have failed to grasp the resurrection of the body as an article of faith.

It is not enough for the prophet to declare God’s consolation—it is framed in visions of loud singing and dancing.

God has become clear in the person of Jesus.

The psalmists of the Bible often sound as if they’re drowning.

In the face of existential threat, God comes with the grace which is the courage to be.