help me.....

Mark 10:13-15

in trouble

in peace

in pain

in health

in the noise

in silence

in doubt

in faith

Father, 

help me

your child. 

Jerusalem

Yehuda Amichai (1959)

On a roof in the Old City

Laundry hanging in the late afternoon sunlight:

The white sheet of a woman who is my enemy,

The towel of a man who is my enemy,

To wipe off the sweat of his brow

In the sky of the Old City

A kite.

At the other end of the string,

A child

I can’t see

because of the wall.

We have put up many flags

They have put up many flags

To make us think that they’re happy

To make them think that we’re happy.

An Arab Shepherd

Yehuda Amichai (1980)

An Arab shepherd is searching for his goat on Mount Zion

And on the opposite mountain I am searching.

For my little boy

An Arab shepherd and a Jewish father

Both in their temporary failure…

Afterwards we found them among the bushes

And our voices came back inside us, laughing and crying

Searching for a goat or a son

Has always been the beginning

of a new religion in these mountains.

Love Covers a Multitude of Sins

Soren Kierkegaard

John 8:1-11 / 1 Peter 4:8

The scribes and Pharisees

soon discovered her guilt,

which was indeed easy

since her sin was open.

They also discovered

a new sin,

one of which 

they made themselves guilty,

when they artfully laid snares 

for the Lord.

But Jesus bowed down

and wrote with His finger

upon the ground.

Why,

did He bow down?

I wonder.

Why, 

did he write  

with His finger

upon the ground?

I wonder.

Did He sit there

like a judge

who listens attentively

to the story of the accusers

and then

jots down the principal points

so he may not forget them,

and may judge strictly.

Was the woman's guilt 

the only thing 

noted by the Lord?

Or

did He write it down

in order to erase it

and forget it?

There stood the sinner,

surrounded perhaps by

those more guilty,

who loudly accused her.

But Love bowed down

and did not hear 

the accusation,

which passed over His head

into the air.

He wrote with His finger

in order to blot out

what He himself knew.

For sin discovers 

a multitude of sins

but love covers

the multitude of sins.

For by one word

from the Master

the Pharisees and the scribes

were struck dumb.

There was no longer 

an accuser.

No one who condemned her.

But Jesus said to her,

"Neither do I condemn you,

go and sin no more."

For the punishment of sins

breeds new sins

but love covers

a multitude of sins.

The Greatest Question

Matthew 22:34-40 / Mark 12:28-34 / Luke 10:25-37 / 

John 21:15-17

In the Synoptics,

the faithful ask

Jesus:

"What are the greatest commands

God has given?"

And in a rare instance,

He responds with a direct answer:

"Love God with all your being

and love neighbor as yourself."

In Matthew, 

He concludes by saying:

"The Law and 

the words of the Prophets

all hang on this."

In Mark,

the questioner

whole-heartedly

agrees with Him

and Jesus states

he is not far

from the Kingdom of God.

In Luke,

the lawyer

follows up

with a question about 

the meaning of neighbor.

Jesus responds with

a story we all know.

But in John,

after the Cross

and

after the Tomb,

the tables are turned.

It is Christ asking 

the question repeatedly.

Calling you by name 

and asking

the greatest question:

"Do you love Me?"

God goes subprime

I always thought Church of the Morally Bankrupt God

would be a great name for a payday loan shop.

Rule Number One

I

Genesis 18:16-33

God waited for Abraham

to finish with

his pleading for Sodom.

And as He heard

his repeated requests,

He wished mortals

knew the 

number one rule of the gods:

A god got to do

what a god got to do.

II

Matthew 8:18-22

God waited for the scribes

and other disciples

to finish with

their excuses.

And as He heard

their explanations,

He wished mortals

knew the 

number one rule of the gods:

A god got to do

what a god got to do.