A reflection on Genesis 32:22-31, the Old Testament lesson for July 31st according to the Revised Common Lectionary. A reflection on the Gospel lesson for the same day can be found here. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31 Jacob sent everything and everyone away. Across the Jabbok. They were gone. He was alone. But, he wasn’t. One of the basic precepts that I insist on, […]
A reflection on Genesis 29:15-28, the Old Testament lesson from the Revised Common Lectionary for July 24, 2011. I also have a reflection on the Gospel lesson of the same day. Like countless liars before him, and countless liars after him, Laban stood there and bold-faced-lied to Jacob. And, like countless victims throughout the ages, Jacob bore the full brunt of the deceit. Seven whole years of his life had been spent working to earn […]
Last summer my parish had an evening discussion group (wittily titled “Caffeinated Theology”) which looked at “The Kingdom Experiment,” by The House Studio. The concept was simple enough–each week you look at one of the beatitudes, and then choose an “experiment” through the rest of the week to explore living some aspect of the beatitude in question. I think the week was “blessed are the poor,” because for my experiment I chose sleeping on the […]
Genesis 25 moves quickly. If you lift your eyes from the page you just might miss a few decades. In less than fifteen verses Jacob and Esau go from zygotes to teenagers. And yet, not much changes in those verses, or in those years: Jacob and Esau are very different creatures in the womb and very different creatures outside of the womb. Like their forebears Cain and Abel, one is refined and the other is […]