Category: Holy Days
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Holy Saturday: Following Jesus
On this Holy Saturday, the last day of Lent, we continue to reflect on the story leading up to the death of Jesus and on what relevance that story has today. What does it mean to follow Jesus in this time of ascending evil, destruction, scapegoating, and death? First, what it does not mean: Following…
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Good Friday: Not a Transaction
Today is Good Friday, the darkest of days, when Christians remember the crucifixion of Jesus and stand by him in his suffering. It is also a dark season in the world, with the Trump Administration endangering global security, targeting immigrants, abandoning climate legislation, dismantling the social safety net, eviscerating education, and unleashing corporations to wreak…
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Maundy Thursday: Gethsemane and the Will of God
“The terrible silence of God in response to Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane was more than a deathly stillness. Mystics have felt it too, in the dark night of the soul in which everything that makes life worth living dries up, and hope disappears from life. Martin Buber called it “the eclipse of God.” –Jürgen Moltmann…
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The Cleansing the Temple: Direct Action as Exorcism
“Bad Day on Wall Street” by Russell Brutsche, used with permission Here we go further in this Holy Week Series, “Why Did Jesus Die: The Story Without the Dogma,” about what led up to Jesus’ death and post-death appearances. My previous post highlights Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem as a demonstration of An Alternative to Empire.…
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Palm Passion Sunday: An Alternative to Empire
Today I am kicking off a blog series on Holy Week and Easter based on my book, The Cross in the Midst of Creation. My purpose is to tell the story of the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus and beyond in a way that is relevant today. People are being traumatized as…
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In the Spirit of Resurrection
When I sat today to write, I realized that the last time I posted to this blog was on Good Friday, almost five months ago. It was March 29, just four days after the death of our oldest son, John. I had posted several Lenten reflections in previous weeks, but I realize now that they…
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Good Friday and the Sorrow and Kindness of God
Reflecting on the Cross The tears you shed, my sorrowful friend, are purer than the laughter of him that seeks to forget and sweeter than the mockery of the scoffer. These tears cleanse the heart of the blight of hatred, and teach man to share the pain of the brokenhearted. They are the tears of the Nazarene.…
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Resurrection and New Creation
“The new creation is not a different creation. It is the new creation of this deranged world. Eternal life is not a different life. It is the resurrection of this life into the life of God. . . . So the kingdom of God means that this world will be different and will be born…
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The Death of Jesus in Context
As we move through the story of Jesus’s death and on to resurrection, we return to the primary themes of this Lenten blog series on “Creation, Cross, and the Powers.” This story is often told as if it all took place removed from the context of both creation and the powers. It is treated not…
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Care Enough to Weep
Last weekend I was on a silent retreat, sharing prayer spaces and meals with a few church friends and a larger group of Buddhists. On Saturday I walked the Stations of the Cross at the retreat center, knowing that the next day was Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. Sometimes when I walk…