Imitating and Eating
This week’s lectionary work keeps pace with the words of John’s Gospel, walking slowly through chapter six from the feeding of the five thousand and through to the passages about the bread from heaven. Bread and more bread
AuthorKatie Munnik
Offering space at the table
I’ve got a brain full of hospitality today. All the bread scriptures in the last few weeks’ lectionary are probably part of it. As are the personal circumstances. We’ve been offered holiday space by a church friend with a house in France.
Best thing since…
It felt like a complete win. We were in the grocery store and getting to that stage where we were a little desperate for something to eat. I have been known to pick up raisin scone to scarf on the way home. (The Spouse is classier by far and buys baguette.)
All the water in all the oceans
“All the water in all the oceans cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside. Nor can all the trouble in the world harm us unless it gets within us.”
Prayer beads
I picked up Beangirl from a craft morning hosted by a local café. It’s a great spot – in the corner of the local park in the old cricket pavilion. The food is an eclectic mix – pizza and falafel, sandwiches and curries. Very earthy and organic. And awfully yummy. Inside the pavilion, there are tables with a good view of the open kitchen, but most people sit outside where you can watch the kids play on the grass. Or lately, in the vast, muddy puddles. You can even borrow rubber boots from the café. Perfect.
Presbyfest
Music, food, face – painting, balloons and bubbles floating on the breeze, tents and stalls along the pathways, crowds of people glad to be together in the sunshine. It didn’t feel like General Assembly at all.
The Chronophage and the Fullness of Time
This week’s lectionary flings open the door to a new perspective on time. Paul starts Ephesians with the great mystery of the gospel. It’s all there – creation, calling, the covenant, the cross. And the passage is shot through with a strange chronology.
Go and Bellow
Last Sunday, I got to yell the gospel. Of course, it was due to a microphone malfunction in church, but it made for a memorable experience – and a good lead into this Sunday’s gospel reading in the lectionary.
Our Decennial
Ten years already. I wrote a bit about this anniversary as it loomed back in January. Now, we’re here.
Our Decennial. To be celebrated with tin
Playing in the Kitchen
Last week, I mentioned procrastination. And then, like any good polysyllabic word, it started cropping up everywhere. It’s been that kind of week.
Front and centre were the cheesy fish. Which started with the cookie cutter.
A spot of mustard
Growth is in God’s hands. Thank heaven for that. If it were up to me to schedule growth, I’d procrastinate and the kids would never grow at all.
GA and the Diamond Jubilee
This morning, I got to read scripture on the BBC. The service was part of the on-going Diamond Jubilee celebrations and went out live on BBC Radio 4 long wave. I’m currently working in Scotland at Canongate Kirk, the Queen’s parish church in Edinburgh, and though I can’t say broadcasting was part of my job description, I’m glad to be let in on the fun and history marking.
Here I am
“Here I am, Lord. It is I, Lord. I have heard you calling in the night.” I don’t have enough fingers and toes to figure out how many times I sang these words at how many campfires. We’re probably talking hairs on my head at least. Goodness me, I would sing it frontwards and backwards and probably while bailing a sinking canoe blindfolded.
But the story is much harder to hear than the song.
Mother Tongues
I’ve been thinking about the lectionary as a tool for a while. You might have noticed. Some weeks, I use this space to write of nothing but. Others, I may dip into the lectionary readings, but spend more time talking through the little happenings of my little family’s life, spilling them out across the table, and hoping that they fall into some sense of order that might bring clarity.
Cover-girls and Mommy Wars
This week, I was going to write about my current lectionary kick, but I got derailed by the cover-girls. I certainly didn’t mean to. When I first saw this week’s cover of Time Magazine, my impulse was to ignore the whole thing. I felt that Time was trying far too hard to shock (and thereby sell more magazines) but had nothing terribly new or helpful to say about parenting. Just a fight in a box – or, in this case, in a flimsy glossy magazine.
Many things are called love
Again we read Jesus’ call to stay close to the Father. Then, he pushes things much farther. This isn’t about an individual abiding in God – this is about everyone.
Abide is a wonderful verb
Live at home in God, as God lives at home in you. The parallel structure and sheer familiarity of that last line may make it wash over you, but don’t let it. Read it again.
Noah’s Wife
I added a new book to my library this week, and thought I should share it. So first, I took it to church yesterday to share with the children. It was a good fit with Earth Day, and also a nice lead-in to some community gardening work that we’re hoping to do later in the spring. But I want to share it with you, too, because it is an excellent resource and a great story to boot.
Long Roads
The road to Emmaus again. Sometimes, I think the church never leaves that road. We are forever walking away from Christ crucified and buried, only to be met again by the Risen Lord and called back into community.
The first Sunday night and the week that followed
This passage bridges a week from the first evening of the good news into the future of the church. It’s a glossed-over, hazy week, like the first week with a newborn. You can imagine the awe and wonder, wondering and fear, perhaps. Joy.