Scripture
Ecclesiastes and the heart-wrenching lives of migrants
Helen Boursier explores spirituality before, during, and after people decide to cross into the United States.
My new understanding of mountaintop faith
Together, the Psalms and the Korean concept of han have changed my perspective on the emotional Christianity of my childhood.
June 22, Ordinary 12C (1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a; Psalm 42 and 43)
Psalms 42 and 43 remind us of the ways a spiritual practice can prepare us for whatever trials we meet in life.
The responsibility of care (Psalm 8)
Made in the image of God, we stand in as God’s representatives in creation.
June 15, Trinity C (Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31)
Wisdom is frisky and frolicking. She reminds us that God created our impulse to learn and to grow.
In the Bible, gender is not binary
The Bible employs many merisms, in which two contrasting words stand in for a whole spectrum. “Male and female” is one of them.
Walter Brueggemann’s gift of disruption
In his hands, the Bible was a living, aching, burning thing.
Separation of powers (Genesis 11:1-9)
In a mainline church, the pastor tends to have limited unilateral power.
The criminalized apostles
Jeremy Williams offers an indispensable study of the book of Acts and the rhetoric of crime in the Roman Empire.
Does it matter if Jesus was crucified with nails or ropes?
A recent Christianity Today article—and subsequent apology—reminded me of the forbidden questions of my evangelical upbringing.
June 8, Pentecost C John 14:8-17, (25-27)
John’s Gospel is permeated with an encouragement, indeed an insistence, on intimacy.
Liberated and vulnerable (Acts 16:16-34)
Like the characters in Acts 16, we are imprisoned to power structures.
He isn’t here, he’s everywhere (Acts 1:1-11)
The disciples’ wonder and confusion at Jesus’ ascension is a comfort to us.
June 1, Easter 7 (John 17:20-26)
The question of unity always raises another question: On whose terms?
Divine visions? (Acts 16:9-15)
Dominant Western cultures tend to downplay the significance of dreams. The Bible does not.
May 29, Ascension C (Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53)
People who have died do not typically eat fish, nor expound upon the scriptures, nor stand among us to offer a blessing and then get whisked away into heaven.
May 25, Easter 6C (John 5:1-9)
Again and again, God comes near and changes everything.
May 18, Easter 5C (John 13:31–35)
Jesus’ new commandment isn’t about who we should love. It’s about how.