We’re still asking the same wrong question that James and John asked Jesus so many years ago. We pray with the idea that we want God to do “whatever we ask.”
Job had a “bitter complaint.” He very keenly felt God’s absence. Job wanted to experience God’s presence in the midst of his trials and did not. He longed to be comforted knowing that God had heard his prayers and paid heed to his situation. Yet, Job did not experience God in front of him or … Read More
Gospel is all about getting the disciples to repent and get busy bringing the realm of God into the here and now. This confused the disciples repeatedly, just as much as it confuses modern disciples. We can grasp the idea of repentance, though we don’t like to do it or admit that we need to. So we can repent. But how do we bring the realm of God into existence? Well, that’s easy, too. Simplicity, openness, and equity.
Suicide is one of the most important topics we should be discussing in faith communities and it is the one topic most readily avoided. We believe a lot of misinformation about suicide. We think adolescents have the highest risk, and as a whole they do. However, did you know that middle-aged white men now have the highest rates of suicide? Suicide remains the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S. with a growing number of older adults dying by suicide. Churches really need to have this difficult conversation because we have the capacity and the resources to save lives.
They moved from enslavement to liberation
through a parted sea
across a wilderness
and a river.
Miram played her timbrel then.
They packed up what they could carry
while the blood of lambs dried on lintels
and God passed over.
Miram placed her timbrel then.
If the realm of God is like the scattering of seeds that sprout mysteriously, I wonder if we are actually doing any of the seed scattering. Or, for that matter, receiving any of the seeds scattered by others.
The failure to recognize the obvious
always catches me by surprise.
Long, long ago Samuel told the people of God
that no good could come from the rule of kings.
They insisted on being like all other nations.
And along came the kings
who took their children for soldiers and servants,
their goods and grains for self-serving purposes.
Still, they did not learn.
Nicodemus is a familiar character. He was a pharisee who snuck off to talk with Jesus in the middle of the night. I wonder what burning question made him take the risk of being seen with Jesus. All we know is that he went to Jesus and affirmed that Jesus was “from God.” Then the conversation just gets weird. And you know what? The Christian church has never made sense of this strange passage in any useful way.
I wish love was simple and uncomplicated. Jesus talked about it so much because love challenges us, often to go beyond our perceived limits. I didn’t grow up with the best role models when it comes to love.
Sometimes I feel like I keep saying the same things and the echoes go on and on with no one listening. It’s how I’m feeling now as I contemplate the familiar words of 1 John 4:7-8: 4:7
Interested in spiritual direction or learning more about it to decide whether it's for you? Curious whether you can afford it? Wondering if Rachael Keefe is available to speak to your group or present at your conference on mental health and faith or suicide prevention and the church?
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