Tag: violence

John | Christo-cannibalism and the new community of love

 Listen here.

For many years, our family shared Christmas lunch with friends and strangers. We’d put the word out, and eat with whoever wanted. One year, it was huge. Friends, and friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends, all turned up at our door. Some of them I knew and loved; others, I hadn’t met before. But gradually I came to realise: almost everyone there was gay. And almost everyone came from a religious family, which had rejected them because of their sexuality.  Continue reading “John | Christo-cannibalism and the new community of love” →

Mark | Into the storm: A script

Tonight we re-tell a story from the gospel according to Mark in which Jesus sleeps in a boat, a storm blows in, and the disciples panic. By way of background, Mark uses the image of a boat as a symbol for the gathered community of faith; crossing to the other shore suggests moving between Jewish and Gentile territories.  As you participate in the story, then, you might want to reflect on times when you have seen a faith community attacked: What provoked the attack? And what enabled the community to continue in its course of action (if it did)? Or you might want to reflect on your own relationship with Jesus: Are you a student, content to value his teaching? Or are you a disciple, who seeks to internalise his teaching?  Continue reading “Mark | Into the storm: A script” →

Acts | Gender identity and the scapegoat mechanism

YOUNG OLIVIA ASKED, “How did the Temple people know to keep the Ethiopian out? Did they check everyone?!” Our telling of the story from Acts 8:26-40 on Sunday was followed by an impromptu conversation about the usual physiological effects of male sex hormones. This led to a further clarification: Kids, your dad’s vasectomy does not make him a eunuch! Continue reading “Acts | Gender identity and the scapegoat mechanism” →

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