• Why citizenship isn’t really the question

    Why citizenship isn’t really the question

    In asking Jesus about taxes, and whether it is right under the Law of Moses to pay them, we might miss what is really being asked here.

  • Between Proper 23 + 24 (Year A)

    Between Proper 23 + 24 (Year A)

    The passage we are moving into is so often taken for a story of binaries, separation, and articulation, but the question is filled with dishonesty.

  • Actual Love

    Actual Love

    The dark parable Jesus tells challenges us, not to learn what to do, but to recall and do what we’ve already learned from him.

  • The Collapsing Boundaries of War

    The Collapsing Boundaries of War

    War messes with our moral compass. But it is the sense of inevitability that does far more damage. Our work is to enforce those boundaries.

  • The Condemned

    The Condemned

    The parable is dark and disturbing. It doesn’t play out as we expect. And we’re not sure what it is supposed to mean. But maybe we should.

  • If one is Praying for Peace…

    If one is Praying for Peace…

    Then one is praying for new life. Hope. And everything that can come from it. Joy. And everyone who can experience it. And justice for all.

  • Listening in parables—for Proper 23A

    Listening in parables—for Proper 23A

    There’s something about parables we just get. They connect with us better than any other teaching. And they have far more depth.

  • Dressed—wearing the right clothes

    Dressed—wearing the right clothes

    Clothes, and our expectations for what we wear and when, are a strange thing to condemn one another for. Well, really, ever.