Many thanks to all those who made Palm Sunday so special at St Mary’s. (I’ve been ill for a fortnight, so it wasn’t down to me!)
Thanks to Stewart Macfarlane for capturing this pic. A reminder that Holy Week starts with joy.
I think that I’m with you Father K, there is a time and place for everything and a service where the problems of a problematic passage can’t be addressed easily is not the place to read it, lectionary be hanged.
My favourite bits of the Bible are the Song of Songs (which, in the medieval period, was interpreted by both Jews and Christians as an allegory of the soul’s relationship with God); the book of Ruth; the book of Esther; the story of David and Jonathan; Amos & Micah. Most of the New Testament leaves me completely cold, and some of it is actually offensive, especially the account of the silver-smiths of Ephesus, and the way that Paul appropriates pagan poetry in the marketplace of Athens.
I think the solution to your problem is not to read the “difficult” bits without some sort of homily about a better way to understand them, and how to read the Bible in general as a collection of texts situated in a particular historical situation.
// UPDATED – this post now visible in Internet Explorer This is the text that I was using, based on the story of Isaac being found a wife in the second part of Genesis 24: We are going back to the Old Testament soap opera this morning. I want to talk about the story…
I once got into a certain amount of trouble over a satirical Scottish Episcopal website. It was a surprise to those who were displeased with me to find that it was nothing to do with me at all. However, along with those who had been in TISEC, I did know who was behind it and…
Eleven years ago today I became a Deacon. It was a wonderful day. I remember having to buy a suit. Once a deacon, always a deacon and it is still a ministry that I feel called to daily. Here is what the ordinal says: The Church is the People of God, the Body of Christ…
Just back in from an evening in the synod hall with 20 members of the congregation. This was prompted by my being told a while ago that it would be good for people to have a chance to get to know me. I’m not sure what that means. After all, I’m such an easy person…
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