7.This also intrigued me: that he should tell everyone not to judge, yet also tell them not to give pearls to pigs. Hadn’t I been tainted with that brush, accused of working with pigs, cuddling up to the gentile swine? Did the command not to judge apply in all cases except mine? And yet –Continue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 4”
Author Archives: Matthew Pullar
My year in books
For those who have been following me here for a while, you’ll know that we’ve come to the time at the end of the year where I share the highlights from my reading for the year. It’s been a diverse year again, with some excellent new books as well as some classics I’ve only justContinue reading “My year in books”
Christmas with St Matthew 3
5.“Even the tax collectors do that.” Did you hear what he said? my friends asked. What a slur. Even the tax collectors, as though we were the scum of society. But I heard it differently. “You’re no better than the tax collectors,” he was saying. Which implied, I’m no worse than them. No further fromContinue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 3”
Christmas with St Matthew 2
3.A child of Abraham? I had betrayed my own to aid our conquerors and fill my pockets. But here came one who could humiliate the proud and righteous, the sons who never set a foot wrong and stuck their feet out for no-one. Here came one who could turn rocks into his children. Could IContinue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 2”
Christmas with St Matthew 1
1.Why do I begin this way? I, a Levite, turned tax collector for the Romans, turned apostle. Why do I begin with this family tree? Because I know about faithfulness. I know the way that His faithfulness pursues, points the finger of grace and calls, in spite of everything. And because I know about shameContinue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 1”
Advent 2: Such bright morning
This morning’s church service began with words that we would never associate normally with Advent: the beautiful closing words of Zephaniah 3, with their image of a God who rejoices over us with singing. But they only seem out of place in Advent if we see the end point of Advent to be Christmas. IfContinue reading “Advent 2: Such bright morning”
Advent 1: Boughs bent with thickset fruit
Every Advent, living in the southern hemisphere, my family and I gather in the abundant harvest of plums that our various plum trees grow. It’s become something of an Advent tradition, where decorating the house to mark the season is accompanied by also clambering through the often thorny branches to separate what the birds haveContinue reading “Advent 1: Boughs bent with thickset fruit”
Sisyphus, Niggle and the Resurrection
Earlier this year, for no apparent reason, I started writing a series of poems in which the mythical Greek king Sisyphus has conversations with various historical and fictional characters. I was probably inspired by teaching Albert Camus to my Year 11 Literature class, who made the figure of Sisyphus into a powerful metaphor of humanityContinue reading “Sisyphus, Niggle and the Resurrection”
My article on Laurie Klein’s”House of 49 Doors” published in Amethyst Review
Didymus: An Easter poem for the Doubting Thomas in us all
Having grown accustomed to my garden’sentropy, its law of diminishingreturns, I saw no reason why this morningshould be any different, less barren.For years this corner had yielded nothingsave failed rhubarb, withered silverbeet.This cycle of death, I reasoned, should repeatuntil soil should die and sun should shrink.My friends reported miracles; I smiledin vain solidarity – atContinue reading “Didymus: An Easter poem for the Doubting Thomas in us all”
The Consolations of Writing 