Pharisee
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Of what I was afraid
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3 min read
To tell you the absolute truth, I was not afraid I would die; I was afraid I would be damaged. Prepping for a colonoscopy, going into the hospital, being put under, being told of what was found: each of these caused concern for me. And if you’ve been reading along, you know my anxiety with…
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Hate the sin? Chances are you hate the sinner.
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5 min read
a Sermon for Lent 4C Text: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 Two Sons Most depictions of this story focus on the first half: the sinful son, the return to the farm, the generosity and mercy of the father, and the embrace. It is a wonderful and evocative image. I have a book full of these images, art…
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Let the good stuff out
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6 min read
a Homily for Proper 17B Text: Mark 7:1-23 Those Dirty Hands You may have noticed that I read the whole gospel pericope, not the shortened version in the lectionary. The primary reason is because the full story makes more sense than the edited version. The second reason is because what was removed is the part…
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The Dream 2012
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3 min read
On the 49th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, it seems fitting to reflect on where we are in fulfilling it. Back in January, I wrote this for King’s birthday: It should surprise none of us that a leader villified by the conservative white community as “uppity” would become as…
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Relearning How to Color
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4 min read
When I was young, I was always drawing. I would watch Commander Mark and draw along, making all sorts of pictures of spaceships and alien planets. I would make up my own comic book characters, sketch them out, write back stories, and imagine whole universes. I’ve always seen myself as creative. As someone who creatively…
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The Daywalkers
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6 min read
a Sermon for Lent 4B Text: John 3:14-21 this is loving the world? There are three reactions people have to this part of Scripture: [from least likely to most likely] 3) Not this one again! 2) Oh! That’s what John 3:16 says! 1) Huh? The third chapter of John begins this way: Now there was…