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We all crave understanding and purpose.
The mustard seed teaching isn’t a how-to. It’s a here’s-what-we’re-up-to. To understand the difference, we need to take a step back. Photo by PhotoMIX Company from Pexels Proper 6B | Mark 4:26-34...
View ArticleCommand
A life less optional In last week’s gospel, Jesus refers to God’s command. It is a word that strikes my ear with great difficulty. I am thoroughly an American after all, and the idea of freedom is...
View ArticleChange: what does it take to like it?
I write frequently about change. Primarily that we like to say we hate change, but that we often actually like it. That it is necessary and natural. We’re never not changing. In most contexts, change...
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This is bigger than tradition
Photo by NEOM on Unsplash I love to focus on the context of every gospel passage. I’m a broken record about this one. Mostly because I think it is deeply important. And because I never hear other...
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On John and his specialness
Photo by Esteban López on Unsplash St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, is more of a folk hero than historical figure. Now, we like to say that tradition holds that John was a disciple and apostle of...
View ArticleBetween Proper 7 + 8 (Year B)
A look at the gaps in the lectionary. This week: the gap between Proper 7B + 8BThe text: Mark 5:1-20 This week we skip over an important story. What happens on the other side. After the storm that...
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Abuse of Tradition
This Week: Proper 17BGospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 This week’s gospel plays with a natural tension between body and spirit, sin and grace, even certainty and hope. And in that way, it might read as...
View ArticleLiberated to Love
Offering grace to the worldProper 17B | Mark 7:1-23 drewdowns · Liberated to Love (Proper 17B) The last time we were in the gospel of Mark, it was mid-July. I had to look it up! That feels like...
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