The courage of Joshua, Caleb, and Moses to speak up.  Joshua and Caleb to the people and Moses to God.  It takes courage to stand up to friends - I think there's a Harry Potter quote about this.  Moses also offers a brilliant argument here.  Then a random return to the laws How anger and fear build on each other and keep going and getting uglierPeter - not just a few tears, but truly sobbing Psalm...  Read More

I do not understand 11:38ff - why God punishing them?  Or maybe...that the people got sick from something in the birds and people attributed it to God...13:30-33 - The power of that one courageous voice of Caleb even if it doesn't seem people heard it.  Still speak Most simple description of the Last Supper specifically hereHumanity of Jesus int he Gethsemane prayer.  Desperation14:51-52 - So odd....  Read More

Something powerful about a sign/signal to gather, move, worshipFinally leaving Sinai - let the rest of the journey begin11:1 - So casual - consumed outlying parts of the camp...11:4-6 - A longing for what once was even if the whole was awful11:23 - Is the Lord's power limited?  Now you shall see... powerful statement here Contrast the unnamed woman and Judas.  One giving, one taking.  One blessing...  Read More

Difference between the Nazarites and the Levits - still extra consecration / markingOpenness to others @ the passover - yet we in the chrisitan faith too often bar people from the Lord's Supper.  What would it be like for God to be physically present to us today? What are the signs we are watching for and the results?But the deeper - keep watching, be ready Psalm 50 - Not the warm fuzzy God but th...  Read More

Good afteroon RJC Friends - on Monday, Diana Butler Bass shared a beautiful gift in her email newsletter that was all about the gift of blessing ohters. She included the video linked above from one of the leading voices about the power of gratitude, Brother David Steindl-Rast. Take 6 minutes and soak in the words and visuals of the above video. (If you are unable to see the video, you can also cli...  Read More

The commitment one makes - I think of monastics and desert hermitsOut of nowhere comes the Numbers blessing in 6:24-26What a day it must have been for the dedication (and messy too) Jesus makes this clear contrast between prideful and humble faithHere Mark's version of a scary futureFaith is not an easy road Psalm 49 - Food and dolt perish together.  Dolt.  lolWealth doesn't hold and doesn't last ...  Read More

How the whole thign came together.  Ancient book of order...5:21-22 - Um...not the best liturgy here...5:31 - really? Sure seems to involve both - why only punish one? Jesus doesn't really respond to their question but instead seems to try to get at something deeper Psalm 48 - I love the ending here - do all this so "that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever....  Read More

Not much to say on these... How I do wish Jesus was more direct and responded to questions with more clarityCat and mouse game between Jesus and the religious leaders Psalm 47 - O how I long for a world that feels like God is in control over all of it Proverbs 10:24-25 -I love that statement that the righteous are established forever...  Read More

Feels like reading the NFL rulebook or the book of discipline in the PCUSA Book of OrderNumbers - get used to counting and lists... Note Mark has the procession outside the city12-14 - Huh?  Angsty because of what he knew was next?20-26 - Was it just to show power?  Or something more? Psalm 46 - One of the "top 10" Psalms.  It is a refuge, a rock, a place of being held.  Especially in dicey times....  Read More

Probably the most direct example of the idea of reward/punishment that we have yet - be faithful, God rewards.  Not faithful - punished26:34-35 - The land finds rest.  The land isn't punished.  Powerful Twice, the reminder of who God is and what God did for them27 - feels like this needed to be earlier in the text v32 - They were amazed and those who followed were afraid.  What a contrast.  Howeve...  Read More

God loves bread too!Killing commands - supposed to be about limiting vengeance but feels like it just continues the cycle.  MLK - Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and r...  Read More

I don't like the implication that blemish=bad The upside down Realm of God - death of the messiah and the last/first and first/last.  Still the upside down todayDivorce - how do we reconcile with current practices?  Hard to do.   Psalm 44:1-8 - Read the whole :) - Begins with a recognition of God but them a deep lament.  Kissing up to God?  Or simple acknowledgment?  Hopefully / probably the latte...  Read More