Luke 3

The Advent 3 readings present an awkward tension.

I am struck by just how different my baptism prep process is from John the Baptist’s.

Being baptized requires becoming vulnerable to at least one other person.

His followers realized there was no quick exit from the discomfort of his words.

His followers realized there was no quick exit from the discomfort of his words.

Our baptismal covenant is a beginning, not an ending.

When we resist the powers that oppress this world, we are baptized through fire.

Advent is also about our own coming and going, the ways we embody the reconstructive ways of the Lord.

The first step of repentance is telling the truth about ourselves.

To be wild is to be free, unbought and unbossed by the structures of power.

John the Baptist's world and ours

It's a great question to ask people. But not this person.

John is set ablaze. What about all the other characters in the Gospels?

About that baptism by fire

“If we can’t afford two boxes,” my grandmother said, “we can’t afford one.”

John the Baptist’s proclamation for a world of Tiberiuses and Trumps

It's Advent, and accusations against prominent men are shaking things up like a highway construction project in the wilderness.

When our collective symbols and stories no longer make sense in our reality, we question who we are. After exile and liberation, the ancient Israelites were so devastated that images of overwhelming waters and fire speak to them.