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Ghettoed Suffering: a Reflection on World AIDS Day
I drove across town to Maple Avenue United Methodist Church. It was dark, cold; the streets were wet. I was running late, but thankfully it started late. The room was nowhere near full. But it was diverse. Wide variety in ages, including college students and some much older. There was also ethnic and gender diversity.…
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Looking for Change in All the Wrong Places
Darkness, Advent, and what the Light is really for. We need this reminder now more than ever. That we aren’t children of darkness. We are children of the light. That the darkness in the world is not imposed upon us by an angry GOD, but comes from fear and prejudice. We are the light-bearers, the…
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Alternate Reality Nativity
In this version of the story, the three wisemen are spies who invade another nativity set and kidnap Baby Jesus. Maybe this is why we can’t account for Jesus’s childhood. Published via Pressgram
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With Us
a homily for Advent 4A Text: Matthew 1:18-25 “Don’t be afraid” The most common phrase Jesus utters in His ministry is some variation of “don’t be afraid”. So often, the disciples are in the midst of something really hard, something truly frightening. Like Jesus appearing to them in the boat, rocked by storms and He…
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Technicolor Faith
a homily for Advent 3A Text: Matthew 11:2-11 From Repent to Doubt When John appeared in the wilderness, a wild man dressed the prophet’s part, we caught a glimpse of his vision for the kingdom of heaven. He preached repentance and preparation: turning away from our pasts and toward a new future, living in a…
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Jesus Offends Us
John the Baptist is locked in a cell, full of doubt, wondering what the whole Jesus experiment is really all about. He is left questioning everything. What is my role in this? Was I wrong? What he’s really thinking is this: Jesus isn’t the Messiah. This Sunday’s gospel is Matthew 11:2-11, and just in case…
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The tiny gifts of St. Nick
St. Nicholas usually comes to our house. He has found us as we’ve moved. He found us after I grew up and moved out of my parents’ house. He always came to us there. St. Nicholas finds us. And when he does, he puts stuff in our shoes. — When I was getting older, but…
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A Wild Perfection
There is something annoying about perfection.Like a gift, wrapped closed, pristinethe brown paper folded, taped, encircledby paper ribbon, then tied–here! A wild bow like straw,like the uncouth prophet emerging from the wildswith lips sticky from locusts and honey,camel’s hair clothing and belt—known simplyas The Baptizer.Scraggly, unblemished, and unknown.We resist opening and sheddingthis rugged, ravishing beautythat…