Doubt and CommitmentEaster 2; John 20:19-31When I was ordained deaconI was secretly gladthat the gospel that day spokeof Thomas the doubter,because I had my doubts -of the institutionrather than of God, and had been doubted,by the institutionalizedrather than by God.Before the doubts, Thomas said:“Let us also gothat we may die with him.”He fulfilled that commitmentlaterContinue reading “Doubt and Commitment”
Category Archives: Easter
Holiness and a Good Death
Holiness and a Good DeathHoly Week and Easter 2025We call this week holyand the day of his death good.How did he live that holinessknowing trauma and deathwere closing in on him?Though a victim of inhuman cruelty,how did he die revealingthe goodness and love of Godand the potential of humanity?Now in my seventies,I look to himContinue reading “Holiness and a Good Death”
Dilemmas of Love
Dilemmas of LoveEaster 6; John 15:9-17So you said to your friends in farewell:“This is my commandment,that you love one anotheras I have loved you.”No need of ten commandments:this one is challenge enough.No doubt it would change the world,but how do we live up to it?How do we love as you loved,you who are love embodied,weContinue reading “Dilemmas of Love”
God is Love
God is love (Easter 5 John 15:1-8, 1 John 4:7-21)All people who use languageare second-hand word-mongers:we mangle words or varnishby buying into meaningsto suit rival agendas.We fumble in our juggling,and truth becomes entangledwith hurts to which we’re subject,and what one hears, anotherwould never have imagined.So “God is love” gets twistedfor some who hear “Our Father”.TheyContinue reading “God is Love”
Warning: Sheep Astray
Warning: Sheep AstrayEaster 4; Psalm 23Good shepherd, there is much we seem to lack,though having much has blurred the truth of need.If you could lead us weary creatures back,green pastures and still pools might soothe and feed.Our souls are parched, our bodies over fed;right pathways now have given way to roads.We seek refreshment, yet willContinue reading “Warning: Sheep Astray”
A Greeting of Peace
A Greeting of PeaceEaster 3; Luke 24:36b-48; Acts 3:12-20; Psalm 4He stood among them, offered them his peace.Amazed and doubting, they were terrified:they thought they saw the ghost of one who’d died.How did he help their fear and doubt to cease?He chose to let them see his damaged flesh;he showed the wounds in hands andContinue reading “A Greeting of Peace”
Thomas and Us
Thomas and UsEaster 2; John 20:19-31The label “doubting” dogged him down the years –it’s more than any saint should have to bear.Did “doubting” Thomas add that shame to tears,so grief and anger barred his need to share?The risen Christ has no respect for locks,nor will defensive doubt turn him away.He lets his wounds be seen,toContinue reading “Thomas and Us”
Altar to an Unknown God
Altar to an Unknown God Easter 6; Acts 17:22-31 Perhaps an altar to an unknown god would not be solid slabs of stone or wood that brute force wrestled from the gaping sod and carved with symbols little understood. Perhaps some legs of driftwood, bare and white, would hold a sheath of woven bark andContinue reading “Altar to an Unknown God”
Resilience
Resilience When trees are wounded, torn by shearing wind or saw, their trunks bulge round the break, in time encompassing all but a rough dry scar. Trees pruned beneath the wires will sculpt themselves as signs of arbitrary loss, slow healing and regrowth, their new leaves reaching high. A flood might wash away a majorContinue reading “Resilience”
Many Dwelling Places
Many Dwelling Places Easter 5; John 14:1-14 Creator of diversity, you value all that’s odd and wild; at home in vast infinity, you house creation as your child. Your home has multitudes of rooms with space most generously to spare for different ways to be expressed, and guests to be unique yet share. Your homeContinue reading “Many Dwelling Places”
Barb, poet priest 