Trying to pray as, for, or with someone in the grips of uncertainty or lack of faith is a little like a modern poet’s trying to compose a new piece in the “genteel lyricism” of the 19th-century masters. Joy Ladin has written about how much of modern poetic expression is a skeptical reaction to the…
Category: Theological Reflection
Am I Preaching a Genuine Word?
“Be still and know that I am God!” – Psalm 46:10 What does it mean for a preacher to stand before the people of God and say anything of importance about who God is, about God’s call upon our lives, or about God’s active work in the life of the world? How does a preacher…
Audaciously Demanding Compassion – American History and the Syrophoenician Woman
Above: © Ally Barrett (www.reverendally.org), used by permission. “Crumbs”—A Sermon Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23But he did not answer…