Scripture
Deborah’s unqualified greatness (Judges 4:1-7)
Judges 4 offers no explanation for how a woman could become such an impressive leader, because none is needed.
Standing before Isaiah
This year, the most famous Dead Sea Scroll went on display in its entirety for the first time since 1968. The prophet’s metaphors ring as precisely as ever.
November 15, Ordinary 33A (Matthew 25:14–30)
This parable is not about productivity or achievement.
Enough oil for whom? (Matthew 25:1-13)
It is possible to be prepared and still miss something important.
November 8, Ordinary 32A (Joshua 24:1–3a, 14–25)
The hardest choice might be deciding which god we will not serve.
Art that forms us (Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37)
Singing and dancing are even older forms of religious expression than stained glass or high crosses.
Worthy is the Lambkin (Revelation 7:9-17)
The book of Revelation presents a conflict with truly ludicrous odds.
Reading the Bible as if trans lives depended on it
A new book of scholarly essays shows that transgender experience is woven through the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and early Christian writing.
November 1, Ordinary 31A (Joshua 3:7–17)
You don’t become a leader—or a believer—overnight.
November 1, All Saints A (Psalm 34:1–10, 22)
The psalmists—all of them—were folks besotted with God.
Ode to Sister Cummings (1 Thessalonians 2:1-8)
Paul focuses on Christ—and then on others.
October 25, Ordinary 30A (1 Thessalonians 2:1–8)
In our world, as in Paul’s, power announces itself by volume.
Letting the Bible read us
Do we allow scripture to shape our identity, or do we reshape scripture to fit the nation we imagine ourselves to be?
Naming the blessing (1 Thessalonians 1:1-10)
God may be found in anyone at any time.
October 18, Ordinary 29A (Exodus 33:12–23)
Nothing feels more threatening than the absence of God.
Anxiety in the Israelites’ family system (Exodus 32:1-14)
Reading the golden calf story through family systems theory