Last week I used the image of a jigsaw puzzle to talk about how the story of Jesus healing the woman with a bad back touched on several aspects of the larger picture Luke was trying to describe and interlocked with both previous stories and next stories in Luke. I mentioned it contained images of Jesus’Continue reading “Proper 17, 2022”
Tag Archives: Healing
Proper 16 2022
Reading scripture, especially the way we read it on Sunday mornings can feel a lot like working a jigsaw puzzle. When you just dump it out on the table half of the pieces are face down and you can’t see anything until you turn it over. You can immediately begin to discern certain prominent colors. This green pieceContinue reading “Proper 16 2022”
4 Lent 2022
Parables are wonderful because no matter where we are spiritually, there is usually a character in the story with whom we can connect, but to be true to the story we need to put it in context. Imagine for a moment Jesus has been teaching for several months near the Sea of Galilee and largeContinue reading “4 Lent 2022”
3 Lent 2022
The story of Moses and the nation of Israel under his oversite is an essential part of our spiritual history, our spiritual ancestry. I can only hit the highlights in an effort to illuminate our New Testament readings, but I hope it will make you curious enough to read more on your own. When weContinue reading “3 Lent 2022”
21 Pentecost 2021
“…whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant…” – Jesus (Mark 10:43) Wikipedia will tell you that Robert K. Greenleaf is the founder of the servant leadership philosophy, probably because he wrote the pamphlet “The Servant as Leader” in 1970 which caused an awakening in the business world. In that pamphlet, GreenleafContinue reading “21 Pentecost 2021”
18 Pentecost 2021
This morning’s gospel reading may seem to you to be a bizarre and disconnected collection of sayings by Jesus and you wouldn’t be totally wrong. I suspect Jesus did not say them randomly back-to-back as they are listed here, but Mark has chosen them to make a point and I hope we can tease thisContinue reading “18 Pentecost 2021”
15 Pentecost 2021
This morning we heard two healing stories about Jesus. Both of them a little controversial and open to multiple interpretations. I would like to back up a little bit and start with a short geography lesson and a recap of what we have heard in the last few weeks to get a better feel forContinue reading “15 Pentecost 2021”
8 Pentecost 2021
Between Mark and our lectionary we have gotten the 6th chapter in what probably feels like a random selection. Especially today when we have a bit from the middle and a bit from the end of the chapter, so let me give you a brief overview of this chapter. We began three weeks ago withContinue reading “8 Pentecost 2021”
5 Epiphany 2021
Freedom and obligation. The late teens and early twenties are an exciting and scary time for most people. Driver’s licenses, dating, jobs and/or college, marriage, apartments, voting, drinking, military service, bank accounts, taxes just to name a few. There are a host of things that you were not allowed to or didn’t have to doContinue reading “5 Epiphany 2021”
The Rev. Beverly Patterson 