Month: March 2020

”Mortal, can these bones live?” [Ezekiel 37:3a] For almost four years now, my favorite day of the week (other than Sunday, of course) has been Wednesday. That is because on Wednesdays, first at 11:00 a.m., and then again at 1:30 p.m., I’ve been privileged to teach two Bible studies at Carolina Arbors, a 55+ “active seniors” community in southern Durham. There are about 30 of us. Collectively, we call the two groups, “Simply Scripture,” because we “simply” pick a book of Holy Scripture and take it on, verse by verse. Over our almost four-year time span, we’ve commented about how a number of Biblical themes keep repeating. Perhaps our favorites…

“Let there be light. And so light appeared” [Genesis 1:3, CEB]. Our earliest scriptures teach us that when God began God’s creative processes, there was an initial need to dispel darkness. Therefore, as God’s first command in crafting the cosmos, Elohim said, “Let there be light. And so light appeared” [Genesis 1:3, CEB]. The darkness was not completely banished, of course. God allowed it to remain as part of the created order. “Elohim named the light Day and the darkness Night” [Genesis 1:5, CEB]. And so, from that primordial moment, there has been a duel of sorts between darkness and light. Other scriptures reveal to us, however, that it is…

“Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?” [John 4:29, New International Version] Once each decade, Oberammergau, a town in Germany’s Bavarian Alps, offers up its famous Passion Play, held in its Passion Play Theater. Since 1634, the town has put on the the drama depicting the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord. This year, 2020, the play will be in production daily from May 16 through October 4. A few years ago, a close friend, knowing that for a number of years I had traveled to the Frankfurt Book Fair in early October, asked me if I’d ever been to…

“So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; …” [Genesis 12:4a] Early on Monday, as I reviewed the Lectionary selections appointed for the upcoming second Sunday in Lent (Year A), and noted that the OT reading was the familiar passage often referred to as, “Abraham’s Call” (Genesis 12:1-4), I couldn’t help but wonder, “Is Yahweh calling out to Abram, or is Yahweh reaching out to you and me?” The answer, of course, is “Yes.” To be sure, Yahweh likely isn’t repeating to you or me the promise He made to Abram, that from our essence great nations will spring. Yet, while I can’t speak for you, I do seem…