jesus
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Baptism
This dove is drunk,having imbibed in spirits holy,less inebriated than ecstatic. No wonder she descendslike a pigeon seeking the bronze headof a long-forgotten herofrozen in the park. But this hero is flesh and blood,and emerges from the Jordandripping and slippery.… Continue reading
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Easter, 2012
Mostly I saw it coming:the suicidal thoughts in the garden,the affectionate betrayal of a best friend,the whipping, the mocking,the exhausting trudge through the gauntlet of spittle,the thorns, the nails, the spear,absolute abandonment,that cold slab in the endless, empty dark.Yes, I expected… Continue reading
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Ultimate Blasphemy
I have a new hero:Sebastian Castellio,who wrote,at the height of the Reformation,that to kill another in the name of Godis the ultimate blasphemy. Meanwhile,Reformers (Luther, Calvin, etc.)and Catholicshurled their toys about Europelike spoiled children storming through the nursery,throwing murderous tantrums,slaughtering… Continue reading
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The Shinbone of our Lord
Last night, behind loose bricks in the far corner of the basement, I found a long, package of crumbling paper. I unwrapped it on the workbench, underneath the fluorescent fixture hanging by chains from cobwebby rafters. It was a bone–a leg… Continue reading
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Transfiguration
When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain,he wasn't changed,nor was he transformed;he was revealed. We, too, are called to transfiguration,not to be changed,nor to be transformed,but to be seen as we truly are. And who is it you truly are?Child… Continue reading
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Lazurus
In an instant,all was light–he stumbled,hobbled by strips of cloth,toward an open doorway,beyond which waited love. Where had he been these last few days?He recalled vague murmurs, voices, whispers…"…this is death, but wait, just wait…"He'd been ready to move on,… Continue reading
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The Ear
I. It is the betrayal in the garden,and one of his disciples decides–bizarrely–to cut off a servant's ear; you wonder what his thought process was:"If I just cut off…let's see…that guy's ear…things will be okay." Really? "No," says Jesus, healing… Continue reading
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MLK, Denver, 2012
"We are in this together,"read the placard.And we were:black, white, Korean, Hispanic,Baptist, Methodist, Christian, Muslim,students and the aged (with canes),dreadlocks and crewcuts,Up with People and down with the system,male, female, gay, straight–an unlikely mix of one,just as God dreamed us. And… Continue reading
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He Calls Our Names
He stands on the platform,barely visible nowthrough the smoke that wreaths and wraps his lean, scarred body. One by one,clean as a knife edge,he calls our names (mine, yours). Our destinies,like the smoke,like our lovingly articulated names,rise heavenward. Text and… Continue reading
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Epiphany
Epiphany,and three queens approach the manger–royalty from the south–following, not a star, but intuition. Now it's time for Joseph's heart to ponder,while Mary's quickens,and she lifts the childto each woman in turn,so they may coo,slip warm, wrinkled fingers around the smooth… Continue reading