In today’s Gospel Jesus is blessing people who are, like him, oppressed. They are oppressed into poverty; oppressed into mourning; oppressed into alienation; into submission; into cruelty; into heartlessness, into warmaking; into persecution. What does a blessing matter to people oppressed by the master class? Does it give them hope to endure their oppression,…
Dear Spirit, Enlighten us like you helped Jesus enlighten his listeners. We have gotten caught up in catching others in their worst moments. Why did we decide to become a Pharisee? When did we decide to be so anxious about sin that we caught a woman in the very act of committing adultery? We…
Dear Spirit, Unite us like you united the father and son who were prodigal in their love for one another. Jesus tells the story of their love because the Pharisees are complaining, “This man welcomes sinners.” When Jesus shares communion with outcasts – as he tells of the prodigals son’s father sharing communion with…
Dear Spirit, Nurture Us like you nurtured Jesus to be fruitful about the fig tree. There is every appearance of fruitfulness in some people, for example, rulers. They have a fine upbringing in circumstances of status and wealth. It may be the case they lacked such, but decided to gravitate toward those possessing outward…
Dear Spirit, change us like you changed Jesus on the mountaintop. A great change is needed in the world. We are part of it. Like Jesus we need to reckon with all that has gone before us. We especially need to reckon with all that is within us. Our experiences of Your Presence are…
Dear Spirit, lead us like you led Jesus into and through the desert. A great mission awaits to transform the world. We will need to be strong to endure. We will need to be one of many leaders able to deal with obstacles; obstacles of institutions, laws, controlled finances and resources. We will need…
In the first reading this Sunday, Ezra is reading to the people from “the book of the law of God.” He is speaking out in support of their ruler, Nehemiah. He is instructing the people to support Nehemiah. Nehemiah is a nationalist who is dividing the people from neighbors. He is rebuilding a wall…
“Foreshadowing the union of the World! From all the ends of earth we come! Old Night, the elder sister of the Day, Mother of Dawn in the golden East, Meets in the misty twilight with her brood, Pale and black, tawny, red and brown, The mighty human rainbow of the world… The Buddha walks…
“The Children cease to play, and look at the old woman…Who is as good as all that?… our mother. She has God in her soul. She cares for us, the poor. She has given me a skirt — and some tea, and money too… How could we exist if it were not for such…
The warrior seeks a baptism of repentance, a “kind solace in a dying hour… Know thou the secret of a spirit Bow’d from its wild pride into shame… O craving heart, for the lost flowers And sunshine of my summer hours! The undying voice of that dead time, With its interminable chime, Rings, in…