Altruism

Altruism. Between curfew and quarantine I have learned something of bird behavior from the back yard feeder. Tiny tufted titmice skitter from black-capped chickadees, in turn shooed by mere sparrows. Sparrows are rousted by cardinals, cardinals banished by Blue Jays,...

Seasoned Words

Four centuries ago, a man who died before he was forty wrote these seasoned words: “Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, The bridal of the earth and sky; The dew shall weep thy fall to-night, For thou must die. “Sweet rose, whose hue angry and brave Bids the rash...

Imperfect Wings

The seemingly interminable toddling, rumbling, tumbling roll from our gate to the runway finally finished, the airliner’s jets crescendo to a bone-trembling roar as our safety-instructing flight attendants are still settling in to jump-seats fore and aft. Since I am...

Stand in Faith

Luke uses allusions to the world’s darkness, the Death of the Innocents, and Rachel’s weeping to describe Jesus’ death in his gospel (23:44-49). So the crucifixion carries the burden of history’s sin and law, man’s lostness and Israel’s longing. After the burial, Luke...

Jesus Begins His Week of Suffering

From the Mount of Olives Jesus approaches Jerusalem, his followers chanting messianic Psalms. “Save us, we pray, O LORD!” And “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.” As the Pharisees urge him to quell the crowd,...