Melissa Florer-Bixler
On not getting used to this
My spiritual practices have long been communal ones. I love people—and their presence.
Jean Vanier and the gift of L’Arche
Vanier found fullness of life in those snatched from despair and placed in homes based on mutuality, respect, and care.
The suffering human (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
Exiled Israel, the crucified Christ, and the thread that holds two interpretations together.
Passed on to us (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
The church that came before us taught us how to love worship and to care deeply for its vitality and life.
The biblical Amalekites are the Israelites’ enemies—and their kin
Enemies are real. They are also closer to us than we may care to imagine.
April 19, Good Friday (John 18:1-19:42)
When I say the creeds, Pilate’s name stands as a warning back to myself.
April 18, Maundy Thursday (John 13:1-17, 31b-35)
Foot washing expresses John’s vision of communion.
Thinking about the Paul Manafort sentence as a prison abolitionist
Patrick Beadle is serving 12 years after police found medical marijuana in his car. His incarceration doesn't make me feel safer, and neither does Manafort’s.
How Jeff Sessions reads Romans 13 and how my Mennonite Sunday school class does
In the hands of coercive power, the Bible is a weapon.
The gospel according to Kesha
Kesha’s latest album could have been written by Hagar, Tamar, or Ruth.
A garden for others
The morning after the House passed its health care bill, my daughter and I planted some seeds.
“They brought to the Pharisees…”
Naming sexism as sexism is not a failure to engage diverse views.
Holy crumbs for a holy world
As the children make their way out the door, trails of leftover communion bread go with them.
Children at the grave: Making space for grief
For career day at my daughter's school, I brought pictures of some of the things pastors do. The students were mostly interested in the funerals.
Wisdom cries out through children
Each time I read these words from the beginning of Proverbs, I can't stop thinking about how much I would like to hear a child read them in worship.
The ministry of interpretation
In the Talmud, there is a story of a group of rabbis arguing over the status of a particular clay oven. Is it clean or unclean? Rabbi Eliezer stands alone against the interpretation given by his fellow sages, and he begins to call upon nature to confirm him.
Ordinary 24B (Psalm 19; James 3:1-12)
James reminds us of the duplicity of language, like a matchstick dropped by singed fingers that leaves behind charred acres. The deception of language is that we believe it is innocent.
Ordinary 23B: Mark 7:24-37
I have spent most of my Christian life in deep discomfort with Mark 7. I now read it as an early example of the priesthood of all believers.
This season of ministry
“So, what’s your plan? You going to keep working your way up to bigger and better churches and church leadership positions?”
This was the end of a conversation I had with one of my parishioners at the church where I am the newly minted minister to children. Over the past few weeks it has become clear how difficult it is for most people to get their heads around my recent change in ministry roles.