Category: Uncategorized
Wild Lectionary: Sheep are not sexy
Fourth Sunday of Easter (B)
John 10: 1-18
By Matthew W. Humphrey
Sheep are not sexy.
Many biblical commentators struggle with language for this most archetypal figure, oftentimes casting them in unfortunate ways. In a brief review of the 9 commentaries on the Gospel of John, which contains the reading this week, I counted no less than 6 which noted that sheep were “stupid,” “dumb,” or “dirty.” (And, equally surprising, all noted how the role of Shepherd in the ancient world was one of ill repute.) Perhaps that is correct, but if sheep are dumb it is in the same ways as you and I. Namely: they seek out their own self-preservation, reacting to circumstances and perceived threats, often making rash decision based on incomplete knowledge. Sheep lack depth perception, meaning they see shadows and pools of water as mysterious threats to be avoided. (I don’t know about you, but I often lack vision too.)
Telling my own story
By Kateri Boucher
Last year for my Sociology senior thesis, I chose to research the interactions between two environmental justice (EJ) organizations in a majority-Black city with a rich and complicated history of EJ work. I had made connections with folks in the EJ movement when I had lived there for a few weeks the previous summer, and I figured that studying these two organizations would be a perfect way to both learn more and get involved in work that I was drawn to. I did some background research, and then traveled to the city for a week to do interviews with members of both organizations. After documenting my findings, I submitted the paper and got a near-perfect grade on the first draft. I was proud of my work, and I was rewarded and praised for it. Continue reading “Telling my own story”
A Creed…
ByRecently, while at work, I was thinking about the Apostles’ Creed, and how I cannot say the words in it anymore and actually mean them. So, when I got home from work, I sat down and rewrote it. I decided to share my rewritten creed on Facebook. I’d already rewritten and shared a few Bible verses in a similar manner, and my friend Rod asked when I was going to turn these into blog posts. Well, there’s no time like the present. Continue reading “A Creed…”
Wild Lectionary: Universal Restoration
Easter 3(B)
Acts 3:1-21
By The Rev. Dr. Victoria Marie
The liturgical season of Easter is the only time that our readings are all from the New Testament. During this season the first readings are from the Acts of the Apostles. Today’s reading from Acts is another occasion where our Roman Catholic Lectionary differs from the Revised Common Lectionary and omits scripture verses. This textual omission significantly changes the meaning and therefore our understanding of the scriptural message.
Welcome to Hineni House
By Clare Morgan
After gathering the documents I need from my office, I walk across the street to the former rectory of St. Margaret’s Anglican Church in East Vancouver, British Columbia.
It’s already dark at 7pm, and a most welcoming yellow glow greets me as I knock on the door.
As it opens and I enter, a wonderful chorus of “Heeey!” spills forth from the big dining room table, which is spread with a beautiful vegetarian dinner. Continue reading “Welcome to Hineni House”
Plowshares on King’s Anniversary
From Ellen Grady
Seven Catholic plowshares activists were detained early Thursday morning at the Kings Bay Navel Base St. Mary’s Georgia.
They entered on Wednesday nightApril 4. Calling themselves Kings Bay Plowshares, they went to make real the prophet Isaiah’s command: “beat swords into plowshares”. Continue reading “Plowshares on King’s Anniversary”
Remembering King’s Assassination 50 Years Ago
By Bill Wylie-Kellermann
I remember precisely where I was when I got the news of Martin Luther King’s assassination. It was my freshman year in college, a midwestern liberal arts school, and I’d just walked into the lounge of my dormitory when a bulletin broke into regular TV programing. The lone other student, whose face and name I mercifully do not recall, was seated high on the back of an overstuffed black leather chair. He muttered, “Somebody finally got that n****r.” I remember running the length of hall to the pay phone booth and calling my folks in Detroit, weeping into the receiver. In those tears, something shifted in me vocationally that day which bears on who I am. Continue reading “Remembering King’s Assassination 50 Years Ago”
Crossing the Desert
By The aboriginal people of the Kalahari desert break and bury ostrich shells in the sand. The extreme temperatures cause condensation inside the eggshells. As the nomads move over the desert, they survive by drawing drops of moisture from these shells with reeds.
You must prepare well,
Rise in the knowing dark,
Go down to the river,
And listen to the reeds.
A single one will call you.
Listen. Continue reading “Crossing the Desert”
