A few years ago two important books were published: Debt, the First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber (2011, revised 2014); and Le Capital au XXI siècle (2013) by the French economist Thomas Piketty, quickly translated into English as Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2014) and many other languages. Piketty's book became an immediate sensation and …
No morbid Christians here!
The Bible is not an easy book! It was never meant to be easy, because easy things are rarely worth much. Jesus himself said something very confusing: “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables; so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and …
Two Kings, two separate ways
Our Gospel reading today (Matthew 22:2-14) is a very troubling parable - violent, condemning, exclusionary at the same time that it is inclusive. I usually focus on the inclusive aspects, but not today. In light of what’s going on in the world - the violence, the exclusion, the hatred and terrorism - it’s incumbent that I …
Where is your god?
Psalm 42 has always been one of my favorites. Like so often in the Psalms, here too the psalmist is besieged by people who mock him for trusting in God. "Where is your God?" they say to him as he suffers torments physical and spiritual. The language of this psalm is pure poetry. The psalmist is …
It is good to be here!
The Christian churches have always looked for dogmas when reading the Bible, especially the Gospels and the Letters of St. Paul. This is an essential task, but sometimes in our eagerness to turn everything into dogma we miss some more immediate meanings and messages. The transfiguration of Christ is an excellent example. The Orthodox Church celebrates …
A wedding banquet Jesus would attend
Here is a marvelous story from today's news to put a smile on anyone's face. A Couple Feeds 4,000 Syrian Refugees on their Wedding Day! And I would think that the one who is smiling the most is our Lord Jesus Christ himself. Jesus often used a wedding feast as an image of God's kingdom. It seems …
Keys and a Sword
June 29th is the feast-day of Saints Peter and Paul, the two most renowned of the apostles. In the Orthodox tradition there are three primary icons of the two apostles. The first shows Peter and Paul together supporting a model church building: The second family of icons shows Peter and Paul in closeup, embracing …
Who is this Son of Man?
Today's Gospel reading (John 17:1-13) takes us back to the upper room, where Jesus had his last supper with the disciples before his arrest. On this Sunday After Ascension, one week before Pentecost, we hear Jesus speak of returning to where he was, with God his father, from all eternity. This is what Ascension is …
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