Maundy Thursday… This was the last meal Jesus would share with his beloved disciples. He was grateful yet he was so afraid. He asked for his brothers to watch with him for one hour tonight. Will you watch with him this night?
Read MoreSo, was Judas right? Would it not have been truer to the spirit of Christ to sell the pound of perfume for three hundred denarii --- a lot of money in those days --- and distribute the money to the poor? Yet Jesus puts Judas down, telling him, “Leave her alone.” And what are we to make of how Jesus’ justifies Mary’s, perhaps impetuous, act: “You always have the poor with you,” Jesus says, “but you do not always have me.” Not exactly a response in keeping with Jesus’ spirit of humility. A little uncharacteristic.
Read More“You’re in TROUBLE! I’m tellin’…!!! Dad! It’s not fair! He punched me first me first!!! “Jennie Anderson, you are to report to the principal’s office immediately!” Rev. Anderson, this is the bishop’s office and we need you to call the bishop as soon as possible… you’re in so much trouble…
Read MoreWhen I think of Jesus’ temptations, I think of a line in the Lord’s Prayer, one that’s been puzzling me for fifty years now, and that line is: “Our Father in heaven … lead us not into temptation.” I’m puzzled as to why God would, as this prayer suggests, lead us into temptation, or, at the least, allow us to be led into temptation.
Read MoreHere on the edge of Lent, as we turn with Jesus toward Jerusalem and the mount of Calvary, we pause on another mountain for one of those "peak experiences" as sought-after by post-Enlightenment, scientifically minded folks as by those who call themselves "post-modern." What is that about, that deep human longing to taste, however briefly, the transcendence of God?
Read MoreI want to take a minute with you all and explain, that to me, the very best pop love songs created are really, really great when in our listening ears and listening hearts, we can replace the Lover with an idea of God and the Love with an idea of ourselves and the song still works.
Read MoreMy friend Kate says about this week’s gospel lesson that timing and abundance are intertwined in this story from here at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Actually, Jesus has not yet begun teaching or working wonders among the people, yet his mother has confidence that he can help when a crisis arises at the wedding of a friend. In this story, John provides a glimpse of Jesus and his mother as human beings who had friends, who "partied," and who fretted when something went wrong.
Read More“Do not fear.” What a thing to say to us, to tell us humans who are full of fears, both small and great ones, do not fear. And Jesus, who in today’s gospel reading is declared the Son of God, the one with whom God is well pleased, Jesus tells us the same thing, in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus says: “Do not fear, only believe … do not fear,” he says, even “those who can kill the body but who cannot kill the soul.”
Read MoreWhat do you dream about when you are going through a particularly scary or fearful time? When there are changes going on in your life, like relocation to a new or different home? Starting a new job or a new project within the old job? Or maybe there are conflicts in the old job that might lead to relocation and/or a new job? When you are going through those hard and demanding times, what do you dream about at night? My most prevalent “stress dream” is the one where I forgot the baby.
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