There’s a woman I know living by herself in a small house in Wisconsin, who has known great sorrow. Some twenty years ago, her former husband was flying a small plane. In that plane were her cherished loved ones: her daughter, her son-in-law and three grandchildren, ranging in age from fifteen to ten. The plane crashed; all were killed. In that...
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Imagine an old woman, in about the year 1007 BCE, living alone in the Jezreel Valley, with only a hillside burrow for a home. Some call her a witch. Others use the world medium; others a necromancer. King Saul has said mediums should be killed, but townspeople still sneak away to see her under the cloak of night. Most jobs are closed to...
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Chances are you didn't hear the story of Tamar (Genesis 38) in Sunday School or at summer camp. Boldness in the face of adversity is the name of the game for many women in the Bible, and Tamar is right on the top of that list. One of Jesus' awesome female ancestors, she is brave, determined, clever--and a bit scandalous. A woman...
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A well-beloved ambassador arrives in many churches throughout the country this Sunday via the RCL (Track #1) lectionary: Esther. The inspiration for the Jewish feast of Purim, she is one of only a handful of biblical women who regularly crosses the divide between religious and secular worlds. Memorialized in books and films, she is beautiful, brave, kind, patient and smart. Remarkably...
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Okay. There’s a woman in the Bible that leaves me feeling a little, well unnerved. And she comes up in this Sunday’s lectionary (RCL, Year B, September 20). Described in Proverbs 31, she’s known as the “capable wife.” Unfortunately, we’re missing a few verses in Sunday’s lectionary, which makes a huge difference. Here’s how it starts on Sunday: “A good wife who...
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I'm on vacation this week. But I can't help write about this Sunday's Gospel, for it's about a women who will not give up—even when she is turned away by the disciples, and when Jesus seems cold and rude. She loves her daughter so much that she takes Jesus to the mat—and her daughter is healed. It is a stunning story,...
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Passionate. Sensual. Provocative. Eloquent. Erotic. It’s all there, in the Bible, in the beautiful collection of poems known as the Song of Solomon, otherwise known as the Song of Songs. In this Sunday’s lectionary reading (RCL), we hear the main character in the Song—an unnamed woman—eloquently describe how much she yearns to be with her lover—and how she will fully...
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The RCL (Revised Common Lectionary) stars line up in remarkable fashion for women in these next few month. LOTS of great stories about women and their relationship to God--which means, hopefully, some great possibilities for Sunday sermons. Here’s a quick list. More thoughts to come each week. Sunday, August 30 “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the...
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This Saturday, on August 15th, Christians around the world will celebrate the life and witness of Mary. What do we know about her? Why does she matter? She is Jesus’ mother. Everything we know about her springs from that relationship. Well known are her life events: her encounter with the angel Gabriel; the haste with which she fled to see Elizabeth; the birth of Jesus...
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