She had freckles on her face. She kept standing up to tug her short-shorts down; they pinched her, she said. She told me her name was “Josi,” without an “e.” And that she was eleven, in middle school, and that her school was “really safe — “that nothing ever happens there.” Her long legs would make her a good tree-climber. I hope she...
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Where do mothers find the strength to let their children go? One of the more dynamic women in scripture shows up this Sunday in the Revised Common Lectionary: Hannah. Known for her great bargain with God, her story is full of emotion, pathos, and yearning. She also leaves us with a range of questions similar to ones faced by women in...
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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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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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In third grade, I was put in a coat room at the back of the classroom for being troublesome. The coat room was not a bad place at all. It was actually a lovely place to while away an hour or two. Much better than sitting on a stool wearing a dunce hat (yes, that happened too...
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