A Simple Lent
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A Task
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1 min read
A Task (Day 40 of A Simple Lent) | Saturday A TASK by Czeslaw Milosz In fear and trembling, I think I would fulfill my life Only if I brought myself to make a public confession Revealing a sham, my own and of my epoch: We were permitted to shriek in the tongue of dwarfs…
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When Evil Wins
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4 min read
I never could wrap my head around “Good Friday”. Bad Friday made more sense. These days, Evil Friday speaks to me even more. There is nothing good about the crucifixion. Save your fancy atonement theories for another day. And don’t get antsy and start talking about a resurrection. Get your butt back here and sit…
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Betrayal & Desertion
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4 min read
The writer of Mark doesn’t condemn Judas. Not like the others. They need Judas to kill himself or bear the brunt of a Godly vengeance: the scapegoat for his betrayal. Like a true villain, more heinous than Pilate (they can’t wait to get him off the hook), more vile than the leadership Jesus spent three…
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Wicked Tenants
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7 min read
I despise this parable. I always have. Hate, violence, and murder. Images of incarceration and indentured servitude. These are indeed wicked tenants. But I’m not sure the vineyard owner isn’t a little bit wicked too. The fence, the watchtower, the going away and letting them fend for themselves. I find the parable deeply troubling. And this…
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A Den of Robbers
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4 min read
I don’t think Jesus cleanses the temple in this morning’s reading. It often goes by that name. But if cleaning is what he’s doing, it is in the full understanding that it will be dirty again the next day. What is cleaning, but wiping away the dirt, scrubbing the scum off of the tub or the grease…