Kneadingafter the kids are asleepand the day’s tidy-up’s done,kneadingunresolved jobs anddisappointment intopositive dispersal of yeast throughdough,kneading prayer,kneading thoughtof friend in need, kneadingthe lossof this or that hope,kneading hope.And pounding,pounding heaven’s door like a breadboard,pounding grace into slackand crumbling day,pounding the gateof coming kingdom,pounding the weight of the season,the wait of the harvest,the slowness of leaven,theContinue reading “Late Night Bread”
Tag Archives: kingdom of God
Christmas 5: This Turbulent Priest (For Thomas Becket, Archbishop and Martyr)
“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill theContinue reading “Christmas 5: This Turbulent Priest (For Thomas Becket, Archbishop and Martyr)”
Christmas 11: Upsidedown
One of the more curious lost phenomena of Christmas was the late Medieval custom of appointing a so-called “Lord of Misrule” (or, as called in Scotland, the “Abbot of Unreason”). This involved either a peasant or an unimportant figure in the church being appointed to oversee the Christmas revelries. A related or parallel custom involvedContinue reading “Christmas 11: Upsidedown”
Christmas 10: Sit at my right hand
“The LORD says to my Lord…” (Psalm 110:1). These are surely some of the more mysterious words to appear in the Bible. Who is the second Lord to whom the writer, King David, is referring? Who could even be understood to be David’s Lord apart from God, the LORD? David, after all, was king ofContinue reading “Christmas 10: Sit at my right hand”
Luke 2: The Shepherds and the Temple
The child interrupts commerce, the daily graze of life, the expectations of a quiet night in the fields. The child demands leaving flocks, abandoning norms, following the angel’s call in evening disquiet. The child enters the daily, the simple: cries, shivers, needs food and warmth, yet transforms it all.Continue reading “Luke 2: The Shepherds and the Temple”
Catechism 18
Will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished? No, every sin is against the sovereignty, holiness, and goodness of God, and against his righteous law, and God is righteously angry with our sins and will punish them in his just judgment both in this life, and in the life to come. (New CityContinue reading “Catechism 18”
Lent 36: Wednesday of Fifth Week
And it will reveal who has taken talents, hid them in the frugal field, who has sown what has been given and let small things grow. And it will reveal the hearts of those who plant and reap, the hearts of servants great and small, the motives of the heart’s dark countries. TheContinue reading “Lent 36: Wednesday of Fifth Week”
Lent 30: Thursday of Fourth Week
Look, the son comes; the farmers steam at the sight. The vineyard is theirs! He has no place. Stone the son; kill the heir. The vineyard is red with blood. Look, the Son comes; the farmers quake at the sight. Rejected, now the cornerstone: the vineyard’s his. He takes His place. The blood-red SonContinue reading “Lent 30: Thursday of Fourth Week”
Lent 29: Wednesday of Fourth Week
The blind, the lame, are let inside; the cursed now are blessed. The king in triumph rides upon a humble donkey’s colt. The temple tables overturned, the mind thrown into chaos, prophecies are rendered true in ways that chill our hearts. The unexpected king burns bright with anger at the sham. He knowsContinue reading “Lent 29: Wednesday of Fourth Week”
Lent 28: Tuesday of Fourth Week
And what is this that we now hear? The workers who arrived too late – the lazy, the beggars, the weak, the lame – have won the Master’s favour and have earned equal pay. What is this that he proclaims, this carpenter with hands of dust? The children step aside while dogs who surely areContinue reading “Lent 28: Tuesday of Fourth Week”
The Consolations of Writing 