21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, RCL)

Jesus’ word association with “Peter” falls flat in almost every language.

I find it comforting to realize that Jesus recognizes the incompleteness of Peter’s understanding.

The translators hope that “the colonial language that was forced upon us can now serve our people in a good way.”

They use Pharaoh’s tools to dismantle oppression.

How Pharaoh treated the Hebrews and how the US has treated my people

Imagine Jesus at the beach, building a cairn.

Imagine Jesus at the beach, building a cairn.

When the privileged and the helpless are called into holy conspiracy

Forgoing congregational singing as a spiritual discipline

When Moses says “keep still,” he’s not recommending inactivity.

Turned toward one another in worship, we experience the grace of God's gaze.

The Red Sea, the baptistery, and the birth canal

Isaiah invites us to remember our origins.

Not everyone knows who Jesus is. Do his disciples?

In the late 70s, two friends of mine housesat for the poet James Merrill—and got out his Ouija board.

Faced with someone trying to deny me shelter from the rain, I thought, are you kidding?

My state has the same number of churches as prisoners. This fact haunts me.

The church is still uncomfortable with human bodies. It does little to promote the rich connection between bodies and Christian spirituality.

Paul uses "body" as a metaphor, and contemporary Christians do the same when we say "the body of Christ." This metaphorical usage generally takes precedence in the church’s practice.

Bodies matter for Paul. And they matter for Christian discipleship. Paul foregrounds the human body as critical for the Christian response to God's mercy.