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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This week, I picked up a book at the library about St Andrew and his cross. It’s a look across history at the stories that accumulate around the figure of Andrew, one of Jesus’ closest disciples and now the patron saint of Presbyterianism.
How are you? We have passed the half-way point in Matthew now. How has the reading been for you? Are you finding what you expected? And any surprises? What are you finding in this rich text?
Jesus’ twelve named friends are students on the road. And aren’t we all?
Isn’t that a wonderful way to look at these lives we’ve been given? Sent-out and called to learn as we go.
Monday morning and baking bread. I just got the loaves out of the pans and the house smells like home. But it was a bit of a wrestle.
I went to the garden centre this morning while the bread was finishing its rise, and came back with a great selection of seeds. So, as I was prepping the pans for the loaves, I was thinking ahead to my glorious summer garden. I buttered the sides of the pans as usual, and then forgot the bottoms.
Lent begins and, with it, an emphasis on spiritual disciplines. The big ones: fasting, meditation, silence. And storytelling.
Because reading stories is a spiritual discipline, too. We don’t label it like that at bedtime, but it is.
This story juxtaposes dramatically with last week’s leper who says to Jesus “If you will, you can make me clean.” Here, the friends say “we will!” and get rather hands-on to prove the point. The emphasis is on our own faith and therefore on our actions rather than on our ability to persuade God to act. Which is probably a good place to be as we approach Lent.
There are 32 verses in the book of Leviticus to contend with, and Jesus just hopped over all of them. Maybe by sending him to the priest, Jesus was trying to ease the leper’s re-entry into society
Lent begins on February 22nd this year – close enough that we might start thinking about it and far enough away that planning is still possible. Last year, I gave you a list of Lent readings and an idea, but this year the plot is a little more straight forward.
Society is really good at making us worry. And stressed and depressed and all-over anxious. And, of course, by society I mean all of us. Psalm 111 works against all that. The Psalmist takes you by the shoulders and shakes until you wake up sane.
Sometimes lectionary floors me. The juxtaposition of passages can be brilliant or bizarre – and when I saw what was slotted for this coming week, I had to laugh. From poor old post-whale Jonah to fishers of men…
I’ve been getting a lot of donations recently from the congregation – crafty things for the Sunday School. Each Sunday, I seem to come home with more plastic bags of squishy things to be sorted through.
Ten years ago, the Spouse surprised me with a ring. New Year’s Eve, the night of high romance and optimism, and we were already engaged.
The space above our table is perfect for our advent calendar. I mentioned earlier that we might make one, and this is what we came up with.
This past week, I was hit by love three times.
The first happened when I was at the school near our church. I was popping in for a visit, after setting up some crafts at the church, and I had my huge messenger bag over my shoulder. I have a collection of buttons pinned there, and one of them is a drawing of an anatomical heart.