Reflections from the belly
A religious scholar, a wounded traveller, a Samaritan and two sisters walk into a kitchen … (Listen here.)
Some years ago, I attended a church which held a meal after the service. As a bunch of mostly women heated soup and sliced bread and as I set the table, a seated-as-usual woman said smugly to me, ‘I’m such a Mary. I always sit and listen to Jesus.’ Quite frankly, I wanted to slap her.
Continue reading “Luke | Mary and Martha, united”
In a nation living with the legacy of a powerful church, the widow’s gift offers a way forward. (Listen here.)
Many years ago, a student Christian group I knew ran a community lunch in the borrowed hall of a local church. A few had left fundamentalist congregations, and were haunted by vivid depictions of a vengeful God, a burning hell, and a faith built on fear and control. Another had left a church whose senior pastor had unchecked power, and was on a mission to destroy.
Continue reading “Mark | The widow’s gift”
Susannah Wesley (mother of Charles and John) had eleven children. Despite the chaos of a very full house, she prayed daily. When it was time, she sat in the middle of her busy kitchen and threw her apron over her head, and her children knew to be a little quieter around the house. Continue reading “Creating a prayer space in the midst of chaos: Seven simple suggestions.”
People have wondered for millennia where God lives. So what’s the answer? An overview of the gospel according to John. (Listen.)
Where does God live? What does God’s house look like? Does God live at church? These are big questions often asked by small people, but I wish more big people would ask them. Because I reckon many big people haven’t really worked out the answers, even though the questions have been floating around for thousands of years. Continue reading “John | Make a home in God, and God will make a home in you”
Alison and the whale 