I thought it would be helpful if I shared my story. For those of you coming to the blog a bit later on, yes, I shared four posts in this category before going back to write an introduction. That is a prime example of part of my story: I have ADHD, and I’m making this … Continue reading Pieces of Me
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The Bible vs Sunday School
The church as a cultural entity has been under fire a lot in recent decades. We have an opportunity to use this as a refining fire. Culture shifts, changes. Sometimes this is objectively good: abolishing slavery, developing social justice, and broadening civil rights. Sometimes it’s subjectively good: changing fashion and propriety. Sometimes it’s completely neutral: … Continue reading The Bible vs Sunday School
Pieces of the Mosaic
Welcome to my home. We make the most of what we have, here. Old items get repurposed; yard sales and thrift stores a regular habit. Our home is more...eclectic comfortable than it is stylish, but we like it. I didn’t always. I’ll be honest. I used to long for a well designed home with coordinated … Continue reading Pieces of the Mosaic
Ezekiel 5-8
There are some pretty horrible things in these prophecies. It's all pretty extreme. Jealousy. Fury. And in the middle, God says that the people will despise their gold and silver because it cannot deliver them. They can't buy their way out of judgment. More, the gods they formed out of gold and silver cannot deliver … Continue reading Ezekiel 5-8
Ezekiel 1-4
Several different things today. First, his vision is so bizarre, so, well, disturbing. I don't think that's actually what anything looks like. I doubt if anyone else were to see the exact same creatures, the exact same revelation, it would look exactly the same. I think it's just to make it very clear how very … Continue reading Ezekiel 1-4
Lamentations 4-5
Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!... ... unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us. There is something so very human in these last verses. Here's everything we've suffered. It's been so long. We understand why it's all happened, why it's like this, but maybe … Continue reading Lamentations 4-5
Lamentations 3
Even in pain and desolation, there is hope in the Lord. Isn't that beautiful? We are allowed to feel our grief, but even in our grief we should remember our hope. One can remember hope without denying pain. Hope does not eliminate pain or grief or suffering, hope looks to an end, a resolution, a … Continue reading Lamentations 3
How we think of ourselves
One thing I have had to come to terms with in recent years is the fact that I am disabled. Now, it probably shouldn't have been such a strange concept. My attendance in high school was somewhere in the vicinity of 50%, after all. But I was in the top ten percent of my class. … Continue reading How we think of ourselves
Lamentations 1-2
So, to begin with, I'm just going to drop a link to The Bible Project video for Lamentations. I've talked about The Bible Project before, but it's been a while. The app with the reading plan I'm following is their ReadScripture app, and it includes the appropriate videos at the beginning of each book. It's … Continue reading Lamentations 1-2
Jeremiah 51-52
So Babylon faces judgment for sins against Judah. On the surface, this doesn't seem entirely right, does it? God uses Babylon to punish Judah, and then he turns around and punishes Babylon for how they treated Judah. Except, God doesn't make Babylon do anything. I think a far better way to say it would be: … Continue reading Jeremiah 51-52
Jeremiah 49-50
There was one line that caught my attention in the middle of these prophecies of judgment. "If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished?" God never said that only bad people will suffer, that suffering is earned, deserved, somehow, that pain is judgment. Sometimes it is, … Continue reading Jeremiah 49-50
Jeremiah 45-48
I find it interesting that prophecies about Israel's judgment always seem to be accompanied by prophecies of judgment on the very nations being used to punish Israel. (Now, I have not checked whether it is literally every prophecy of judgment. I mean that as I read this passage, that is the over-all impression I am … Continue reading Jeremiah 45-48
Jeremiah 40-44
So this is how I read this story: People did the thing. God said: because you did the thing, bad things are now going to happen. People stop doing the thing too late (my kids do this by the way: 'but I stopped!') Bad things happen just like God said they would, because people did … Continue reading Jeremiah 40-44
Pieces of the Mosaic 