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Responding to Sadducees

Responding to SadduceesPentecost 22; Luke 20:27-40At High School, I was good at debating,but our arguments there were not heartfelt,just a mind game where stances were random:“Yes” or “No” was assigned, not self-chosen.Now real arguments set my gut seething.If beliefs are deep seated and fervent,seems my tongue and my brain lose connection.If I speak, it isContinue reading “Responding to Sadducees”

Belonging and Receiving

Belonging and ReceivingPentecost 20; Luke 18:15-17It is to such as thisthe realm of God belongs:the baby learning how to bewhose sustenance is love.Her joy is to explorethe colours, shapes and sounds;to her, the world’s new born,created for delight.Safe held in cradling arms,she smiles to know a face,then seeks her mother’s milk,warm flowing from the breast.ShowContinue reading “Belonging and Receiving”

The Need for Prayer

The Need for PrayerPentecost 19; Luke 181-14I’ve got a problem with prayerand it’s not just my discomfortwith Jesus’ teaching story.I don’t think the God I knowis anything like the unjust judgeworn down by determined nagging.Do we think that incessant prayingwill prompt God to enforce justice?I get Jesus’ point about the needto pray always and notContinue reading “The Need for Prayer”

All the Earth Shall Worship

All the Earth Shall WorshipPentecost 18; Luke 17:11-19, Psalm 66:1-11, 2 Timothy 2:8-15Ten lepers were cleansedand one returned to give thanks.He praised God with a loud voiceand Jesus said to him:“Your faith has made you well.”Yet he was a Samaritanand some despised his faithfor worshipping on a mountainand not in the templeand for incorporating beliefsfromContinue reading “All the Earth Shall Worship”

Is It Faith?

Is It Faith?Pentecost 17; Luke 17:5-10Is it faiththat causes my heart to liftas a pair of black cockatoos soar into my sight,the slow surging strokes of their wingsin perfect unison?Is it faiththat brings tears of joy to my eyesand bids me cry outin gratitude:“Oh beautiful, beautiful!”Is it faithin the Creatorof these winged messengers,or is itContinue reading “Is It Faith?”

Chasms Between

Chasms BetweenPentecost 16; Luke 16:19-31Over the years and across the wide Earththose who have much exclude those who are poor –maybe with claims of superior birth,whiteness or maleness, tradition or law.Some say that wealth is a blessing they’ve earned:fittest survive while the lesser won’t thrive.Those they keep down find best efforts are spurned:doomed as outsiders,Continue reading “Chasms Between”

Serving Two Masters

Serving Two MastersPentecost 15; Luke 16:1-13In practice, I have found that serving Godmakes serving wealth a choice beyond my means.The most I hope for is to have enough,but surely some would see “enough” as “wealth”.And I am grateful that it was to me:the work I loved brought in enough to livewith all the basic comfortsContinue reading “Serving Two Masters”

Alas

Alas (lyrics of a song to the tune Greensleeves)Pentecost 14; Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; 1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-19a; Luke 15:1-10Alas, O God, we do you wrongto cast you off discourteously,for you have loved our world so long,delighting in our company.Mend, mend our disgraceful ways,vain displays of fame and wealth.Bend, bend our reluctant kneesto touch the hurtContinue reading “Alas”

Shanay in Sunshine

We are grieving the deathof our little cat Shanay.It seems as ifthe sun won’t shinewithout her invoking its presenceas she gazes at the skyfrom the chair by the glass door.How she luxuriated in its warmthwhen the sunshine obliged her:praise and gratitude personified!How can I readwith the same delightpropped up on the couchwithout the tread ofContinue reading “Shanay in Sunshine”