I hope when I die I am mourned more by the poor than by the rich.
I hope my coffin is carried by friends and not by soldiers.
I hope the clocks keep chiming for the world only spins forwards.
I hope that money is not wasted on my obsequies which could be better spent on doing good.
I hope that an Easter mass is celebrated not state-sanctioned pomp and pride.
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.
From the Brechin diocesan website: “Saturday, August 20. 11 am – 4 pm. Grand “Everything Must Go” Jumble Sale at St Salvador’s, Dundee.” Everything must go? At St Salvador’s? Really?
Here are the intimations: 1 I am going to Linlithgow on Sunday evening to lead an evening of Taiz? worship. (Though only 1 hour, not all night). Starts 6 pm at St Peter’s (formerly St Mildred’s) Episcopal Church. 2 There will be a chance to practise the Taiz? chants at 2030 on Thursday evening at…
As we read the story of the Jewish passover this morning, we face the immediate recognition that this is a story of a people about to be evacuated from one place to another. The Jewish people stopped on their last night in slavery before making their run for it, through the red sea, as we…
Here are some websites I've been enjoying this week…www.magnatune.com (Excellent downloadable free music – esp the orthodox singing)www.csszengarden.com (Because I've been working on a big new website for someone and needed distracting from it. This – http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=/176/176.css&page=0 just took my breath away. The new website I'm doing is not nearly so complex, though it is a…
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