Gerald May, in his beautiful book about St. John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, says this: When we were children, most of us were good friends with mystery. The world was full of it and we loved it. Then as we grew older, we slowly accepted the indoctrination that mystery exists only to … Continue reading Luke 18:1-17 Children of Mystery
When I was in seminary, someone asked why we couldn’t simply get rid of those parts of the Bible that don’t make any sense anymore. After all, if we accept that the Biblical canon was created by people, we should also accept that it can be uncreated by people. The professor gave a very wise … Continue reading Luke 17:11-37 Apocalyptic Being
Jesus issues a duo warning in this passage. First, when you fail (and we are all bound to fail), don’t lead anyone after you in your failure. Second, the surest guard against failure is the encouragement and forgiveness of community. If we are to accept the schema of self that I’ve talked about previously in … Continue reading Luke 17:1-10 We Will Find Ourselves in Communities of Forgiveness and Grace
Now that we’re fully convinced of our need for grace and our utter inability to follow Christ without God’s aid, we are given a parable that is not about prayer or the honing of an interior state, but about action, or the lack thereof. Traditionally this is known as the parable of Dives and Lazarus, … Continue reading Luke 16:19-31 No Better Crucible
I was sitting with other clergy in a Bible Study, and we were arguing about this passage. After awhile I became indifferent to the argument, and began to think about the dishonest wealth that I had received in my life. I took out a sketch book and wrote this poem for my wife: Eternal Habitations … Continue reading Luke 16:1-18 Eternal Habitations
KPB Stevens 