Category: The Cross in the Midst of Creation
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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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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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COP 29: A Perilous Moment of Choice
Image by Laurie Bayen See the sign-on letter to world leaders below In 1992 I was part of the United Methodist delegation to Rio de Janeiro during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, where George HW Bush signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the foundational climate treaty. At that conference, the nations…
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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…
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Don’t Look Up
“You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart, and…
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Creation: Moving from Awe to Lament to Resistance
Being-at-one is not individualist self-realization but moves beyond that to change death-oriented reality. Being-at-one shares itself and realizes itself in the ways of resistance. Dorothee Soelle Lent is always a fruitful time for me, a time to reset my focus and reestablish practices that nourish my soul. Prayer is at…