jesus
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Perfection
After month upon month in ICUmy sister reached perfectionand said,"Enough."The word came from a puffy, pale face,beneath what had been a crown of thick, cascading hair,but was now only scattered brown tufts. "Be ye perfect,"Jesus had said to her.Hers was… Continue reading
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Impossibilities
Gabriel appears to Mary,scans her heart,scares the bejesus into her.She drops the mending,the basket of eggs,the water jug,the familiar, known and comfortable.Reaching back…back…back into their shared story,this shattering, shimmering apparition speaks:"We can't do this. God can."…and Mary's heart and womb… Continue reading
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The Convention of Jesuses
I elbow through the crowd–so many Jesuses gathered from time,each designed to meet the needof a particular people, place, prejudice, pain… Look over there–pawing over the desserts–Republican Jesus,Democrat Jesus,socialist Jesus,and liberation Jesus,all trying to decide–cheesecake or chocolate mousse? And vigorously… Continue reading
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Denver Art Museum, Holy Saturday, 2011
I The art of New Spain, 1598-1821.I sit on a creaking camp stoolsurrounded by assorted grim Jesuseswho bleed,who hang their heads with eternal weariness.Sad, solitary suffering,standing forever with hands bound,hanging forever with xylophone ribs. This is Good Friday stuff,not yet… Continue reading
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Good Friday
The most horrifying words in scripture–in all of human history–are these: "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" At that moment, Jesus felt utter betrayal; he'd trusted in God, and he'd been duped. His faith ended at that… Continue reading
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Come, Follow Me
"Come, follow me." In Jesus' world, rabbis used this phrase to recruit their star pupils for advanced studies. If directed to you, it meant you were the elite–you'd made the grade, passed the test, proved yourself worthy. Jesus (yet again!)… Continue reading
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Core Word #9: Compassion
Let's open the valveat the bottom of every human heartand drain the sludgethat reeks of fear. Let's rinse those heartswith sacred solvent(God's sweat, Allah's tears, Buddha's laughter),then fill each heart to its gilded rimwith the champagne of compassion–crystalline, effervescent and… Continue reading
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What Did Jesus Do?
oh, a womana woman is a personI'll talk to hereven though I'm not supposed to oh, a lepera leper is a personI'll touch himeven though I'm not supposed to oh, a childa child is a personI'll hold hereven though I'm… Continue reading
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Another Day of Healing
That day–a busy one, as healing ministries go–a leper, two crippled gals and several menfolk born blind(three at least–some days he lost count). And, when the disciples weren't looking,the mangled wing of a dun-colored bird,the runny, infected eye of a… Continue reading