Faith, Grace, and Hope

Imagination matters. And we are failing our children when it comes to the fullest use of imagination. Experiences of play wherein different locales, ways of being, changing movement, and evolving responses are critical to our children's emotional and psychological development. Opportunities for imagination come naturally to most children and if we, as adults, ask questions, encourage, and give healthy shape to such play, we are then shoring up a strong mental and ethical foundation for our children. Because moral imagination is a real concept and, I would argue, a real thing. Moral imagination, even in play, involves the capactity to wrestle with ethical concepts and frameworks and apply them in new and different settings. In order to be grow into an adult ethic that seeks justice and wholeness, children have to be taught the truth of certain historic events. Girded with historical realities, in all their complexities, children can imagine their reactions, test those respons...

MARK 14:16-31:  So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he came with the twelve.  And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”  They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?”   He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me.  For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.”   Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it.  He said to them, “This is my blood of the...

This was originally written for and posted on RevGalBlogPals.org and posted on 3/21/16. At the time of posting, it generated considerable conversation and commentary. I recommend that you go over there for interesting thoughts beyond this writing. **************************************************************************** Gaslighting is a strong word. It’s a strong word with psychological triggers for many people, including me. Gaslighting involves the perpetrator trying to convince the target (the one being gaslighted) that what they perceive is not actual reality. By convincing the target to doubt herself, the gaslighter gains power through distortion, lies, and misinformation. Soon the target may come depend on the gaslighter for “truth”, since the target no longer trusts his senses, perceptions, or even basic reasoning ability. Donald Trump has been accused of gaslighting the entire United States of America . By doubling-down when caught in a lie, Trump makes...

This was published first here at RevGalBlogPals.org. She gripped my hand in the doorway  of the church, following the Good Friday service, “I’ve never really liked Jews.” I had just finished decrying present-day harassment of Jews in the Ukraine and noted that we are kidding ourselves if we thought we would treat Jesus better now than he was treated then. We prayed. We grieved. I again felt the chasm between the religion of my heart (Christianity) and the religion of my blood and my ancestors (Judaism). Always the tension between betrayal and the realities for anyone of Jewish ancestry or culture, here I was, being told by a parishioner I love deeply something that amounted to, “I’ve never cared for an entire race of people [to which you belong through your mother and her parents and your grandparents].” Gripping her hand in that doorway, I looked her in the eye and said, “Do you know any Jews?” “No,” she admitted. “Well, now you do.” This story comes ...

John 18:28-40 Notes: - The crowd does not enter Pilate’s headquarters because it would have rendered them unclean. They needed to stay clean for the Passover celebration. What’s the central part of a Passover meal? A lamb. (John’s gospel is nothing, if not dramatic.) - The crowd asks for Barabbas. The gospel writer tells us that Barabbas was a “bandit”. Bandit is the same word that is used in John 10, when Jesus refers to himself as the ‘Good Shepherd’. Bandits are contrasted with the shepherd as ones who want to harm the sheep. - Why doesn’t Pilate let Jesus go if he knows that Jesus is innocent? Remember Pilate is in a political appointment. He is charged with upholding law and order in Judea. He ultimately decides to have Jesus killed to get things to settle down in his area. They never do. - It is important to recognize that Jesus gives Pilate a chance to come to him (Jesus) as a believer. Pilate could listen and believe, thus coming into the light. He chooses...

Psalm 1  There is joy in the path of truth- Happiness in doing things God’s way. Those who do this find deliciousness in God’s word- It nourishes them- body and soul, day and night. The ones who listen, who heed, bloom. They blossom and bear fruit. Bursting forth, they are ready for harvest in all they do. Those who do not listen, who do not heed the word- They do not have the same experience. They are affected by every wind that blows. They cannot prosper. And they do not understand the joy and consolation of the Listeners. The Lord sees all, calls all, desires all. The path of truth prevails, But the road of lies will not be preserved.

Give us this day our daily bread . Hundreds of millions of people pray the Lord’s Prayer today. Tens of millions will pray it tomorrow. We all say it. We all say, “ Give us this day our daily bread .” Millions of people say this and yet there are still hungry people. There are people who do not have enough. People who are unable to make ends meet. People who will go to bed tonight with growling stomachs. Children who will go without eating because they depend on the school lunch program for a meal each day and now it’s summer. Most of us have enough. In fact, most of us have more than enough. And most of us are not hungry right now, unless we happened to skip breakfast today. And yet we pray, Give us this day our daily bread . We pray it and we pray in concert with all people around the world. It is not Give me or Give my family . It is Give us . We are praying with people who believe like us, who are living faithfully in God’s promises… we are prayin...

I strongly recommend the sound file of this sermon (at the bottom) to you , as it has the transitions missing in the text.  Easter 7 (Narrative Lectionary, Year C) 12 May 2013 Galatians 3:1-9, 23-29 What bewitches us?             We are (all) easily distracted (or seduced) by things that are not important. How many times have you lost an hour or three to television or to the Internet and ended up feeling guilty about that time? Very few of us have had that same experience in prayer or devotional time. Yet, false piety can be equally bewitching. We are not called to live lives of sequestered prayer and study, but prayer and devotion in word and deed. Our prayers are in how we live, how we use our time and talents, how we reveal our trust in God’s grace.             The Galatians were “bewitched” by false teachers who continued to emphasize the nec...

I've been trying to think of what to say about this  article from the New York Times, in which the author calls himself a "None"- meaning no religious affiliation. It's not this designation that bothers me. I'm also not too upset when he goes on to comment on how many such Nones get turned off religion by religious people. Been there, seen that, had it happen to me. Here's the thing that gets me: We are more religiously polarized than ever. In my secular, urban and urbane world, God is rarely spoken of, except in mocking, derisive tones. It is acceptable to cite the latest academic study on, say, happiness or, even better, whip out a brain scan, but God? He is for suckers, and Republicans. I used to be that way, too, until a health scare and the onset of middle age created a crisis of faith, and I ventured to the other side. I quickly discovered that I didn’t fit there, either. I am not a True Believer. I am a rationalist. I believe the Enlightenment was...