Jacob Jordaens, 'Prodigal Son,' 1640 (Wikimedia Commons). Luke 15:1-3, 11ff. (NRSVue). Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable [...]:11 “There was a man who had two … Continue reading ‘Let me tell you a story’: Awkward truths about prodigal son(s), empire, pigsties and the interpretation of parables
‘A reality where there is no we’: Social justice and the common good after a bitter election: Spiritual journal, November
Demonstrators in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021 (*Photo: Gregory Starrett, CC BY-ND). Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director today in advance of our session for November. I’ve been writing these for several years now, primarily in order to help me focus my mind before we talk. It’s not a record or an … Continue reading ‘A reality where there is no we’: Social justice and the common good after a bitter election: Spiritual journal, November
How is the Holy Spirit like the wind? the breath of God? a wild goose? Notes for spiritual direction, September 2024
Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director today in advance of our session for September. I’ve been writing these for several years now, primarily in order to help me focus my mind before we talk. It’s not a record or an agenda of our sessions. (Often enough, we start discussing something … Continue reading How is the Holy Spirit like the wind? the breath of God? a wild goose? Notes for spiritual direction, September 2024
The spirit blows where it will, and this time the spirit blew me from my parish church in Springfield to a synagogue in Galilee and Luther’s Marienkirche in Wittenberg
Restored ruins of 4th-century synagogue at Capernaum (Wikimedia Commons). John 6 (NRSVUE). 59 He said these things while he was teaching in a synagogue at Capernaum. 60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, … Continue reading The spirit blows where it will, and this time the spirit blew me from my parish church in Springfield to a synagogue in Galilee and Luther’s Marienkirche in Wittenberg
Ordinary Time 