Reflections from the belly
‘Those who love and fear you lack nothing,’ sings the Psalmist. ‘God listens. God delivers. God protects.’ But we know the truth. Good people suffer. The poor are hungry. The innocent are accused. Prophets are silenced. So, is this psalm sanctimonious and full of false promises? Or is something else going on? Continue reading “Psalms | Slow reading | I called in my affliction”
The parable of the talents challenges us to speak truth to power, whatever the consequences. (Listen.)
The parable of the talents is an incredibly odd little puzzle. Every way we turn it, we find another way of reading it: and so people have been turning it and wrestling with it for millennia. Even so, one interpretation has dominated the church. You probably know how it goes. God gives us talents—money, skills, capabilities—and if we don’t use them to achieve dramatic outcomes, God will throw us away. But this doesn’t sound much like God. So let’s unpick this interpretation, for we might discover a very different reading which is an encouragement to us all.
Through the prophet Ezekiel, God promises life to a people cut off from everything they once knew. (Listen.)
The people were devastated. Family, friend and neighbour had been killed by an invading army. Bodies were abandoned, with no proper burial. Shops were shuttered; streets were emptied of life. Those who survived were in exile, and everything had changed. They could not worship in the usual places; they could not go to familiar shops or town squares; they no longer saw their friends. Continue reading “Ezekiel | A word of life to a nation in lockdown”
Indigenous and Christian ways of the seeing reveal a world fully alive, animated by the spirit, and wanting to communicate. (Listen.)
While we were away with our sister church recently, Phil went for a walk. When he came back, Uncle Den wandered up for a chat: “I saw you come back from a bit of a walkabout just now.” “Yep,” said Phil, and he told Uncle Den how much he loves being outside by himself, and how he finds peace and rejuvenation there. Uncle Den asked him, “So do you talk to the birds that you see? Do you stop to listen to what they might wanna say to you? How ‘bout the trees? They’re always talking; do you listen to them, too?” Continue reading “Psalms | Jesus Christ, the apple tree, and me”
Listen here.
This is the story of three donkeys, maybe more. Balak, the king, is the first. He believes that, if only he spends enough money and hires the best prophet, he can reverse God’s blessing over Israel and protect his borders from a horde of refugees. Even when the best prophet says this isn’t possible, Balak persists. What a donkey. Continue reading “Numbers | A tale of three donkeys”
Gossip is so often named in the church as bad, bad, bad, that I am suspicious; so on Sunday I reflected on how healthy gossip can build community (here). After the reflection, someone commented that they had been told as a young person never to talk about anyone else; and that meant that they never even shared good news, not even with their spouse. The idea of healthy gossip was new, and suggested intriguing possibilities of positive communication. Yay! Continue reading “Further thoughts on gossip”
Listen here.
Tonight’s passage from the Epistle of James scares the living daylights out of me. Apparently, my tongue is a deadly fire. It stains the whole body. It is a restless evil, full of poison. And as one who speaks to the gathered community, I will be judged with greater strictness for my speech. Even worse, this passage is often used to preach against gossip: that form of talking about people which is so often done by women. I should be quaking in my boots — and believe me, I am! For I am a woman who regularly chats with people about people. And yet, while there is no doubt in my mind that careless and malicious words can be incredibly destructive, I’d like to step back, and take a good look at gossip. Continue reading “James | Holy gossip?!”
Alison and the whale 