Faith & Politics Reflections

 PERSPECTIVE – SUNDAY MARCH 30, 2025 Luke 15:1-3 & 11-32 “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.  2  And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3  So he told them this parable: 11  Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons.  12  The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the wealth that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets between them.  13  A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant region, and there he squandered his wealth in dissolute living.  14  When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that region, and he began to be in need.  15  So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that region, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.  16  He would gladly have filled his stomach...

 FLINGING SHIT – SUNDAY MARCH 23, 2025 Luke 13:1-9: “At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish just as they did.” Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Si...

 LETTING GO – SUNDAY MARCH 16, 2025 Luke 13:31-35: “At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’” ➖ “See, your house is left to you.” There has been nothing more painful in my life than having to walk away from something, or someone, that I love deeply. ...

EVERY WORD – SUNDAY MARCH 9, 2025 Luke 4:1-13: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ” Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it ...

 SLEEPER AWAKE – SUNDAY MARCH 2, 2025 Luke 9:28-36: “Now about eight days after (Jesus talked about his impending death in Jerusalem), Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which Jesus was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. . .” ➖ Sylvia Plath in her 1963 novel *The Bell Jar* shared her struggles with depression writing, “I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my lids and all is born again.” Many of us understand this sentiment either from personal experience or wresting with what to do in these disastrous days of the Trump/Musk deconstruction. Sylvia is not the...