There is a story about the legendary Country/Western singer, Hank Williams. In 1948 he wrote a “then familiar song” – entitled “I Saw the Light.” The first stanza goes: “I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin; I wouldn’t let my dear savior in. Then Jesus came “like a stranger in the night;”Praise the Lord, […]
I want you to put this picture in your mind’s eye. Jerusalem is normally a “very busy-active city” with a lot of coming and goings…and a lot of pilgrims, both then and now. Passover made it an even more lively affair. The population of the city would actually quadruple as Jews made the pilgrimage for […]
John is John. It is purposefully different. We need to remember that Jesus was a Jew. He was deeply Jewish. He loved and practiced his faith. He was shaped by the Torah, the Pentateuch and was intensely committed to its teaching in the Synagogues. He loved the Temple. It was the heart of all things […]
In this life, there are “pivotal”-“critical”-“important moments-in-time, this is one of them! It is important to note that Jesus and the twelve are in Caesarea of Philip or Caesarea Philippi – because it was hands down the seat of the greatest power of his time, outside of Rome itself. In the Middle East, this is […]
So, there’s this Dorito Commercial out there – if you try and take a Dorito – you are smacked and thrown against the wall by an elephant’s trunk – but no one wants to talk about it!!! The expression … “The elephant in the room” … has become something of “a common cliché today.” Before […]
Human life is fleeting. All of human kind is prone to wasting “precious time” on small, petty concerns. We sweat the small stuff…the trivial. In the great scheme of things, just how important is this? Heck, some of us – sweat – “all stuff.” We do not put everyday concerns into their proper perspective. Things […]
When I think about Mark’s Gospel, I think of something that is “pithy, terse or compact. Mark begins writing without precedent or guide, simply convinced that the story needs to be told – “must be told”-and tell it “he does,” in “dramatic “and “rapidly unfolding fashion…” Mark has no time for “lengthy introductions” that eases […]
From their “earliest days,” the followers of Jesus – have set aside 40 days before Easter Sunday as a “special time” called “Lent.” Just so you know…Sundays are not counted in the Season of Lent. Sundays are considered to be “free days”…because Sundays are always celebrations of the Resurrection of Our Lord. This is now […]
For the record – I am not here to confuse anybody. But I am here to talk with you about the Transfiguration of Our Lord. When it comes to the Transfiguration – we are all over the board on this one! The “original” declared date of the Transfiguration was August 6th. To this day, our […]
A “new thought” this year – regarding the Transfiguration of Our Lord… I am so horrible at math, admittedly so. But if memory serves me correctly 3 out of 12 disciples shared a special experience together. That means that 9 disciples were excluded. Oh, here we go, this is where it gets shaky- isn’t 3/12’s […]