reFlectionary posts will be periodic reflections on readings, usually the Old Testament reading, from the Daily Office Lectionary, which forms the backbone of my devotional reading. Periodically, I offer a brief homily and serve at
I detect that I am not alone in my impatience for Spring to arrive. The news reports a prosecutor attempting to bring capital charges against Punxsutawney Phil, that mantic marmot, that ultimate rodent of augury,
When the Hindenburg blew in 1937, engineers accepted the reality that the rigid airship needed to be completely rethought. However great the lift gained by using Hydrogen, its explosive tendencies ruled it out as a
I wrote the following many years ago, having used it in a segment of my Old Testament introduction lectures for seminarians for even more years. I re-post it periodically because I feel it’s still pertinent.
So it’s my last day in Israel. I leave late Monday night, but Monday will be spent with sorting, organizing, giving away, packing, weighing, re-packing…obsessing and fretting over departure. So today was really my last
I have developed an obsession. For so long, I’ve watched Jews venerate the Western Wall. They touch it, cry at it, stuff paper prayer requests in the stones, they believe it is the constant center
This post continues a series adapted from my commentary on the book of Judges in the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary series (Tyndale) working out the framework needed to interpret and apply stories of violence in the book of
That crazy “scapegoat” thing in the Day of Atonement passages (Lev. 16:6-10, 20-28; 17:7) has always bugged me. Scholars have a field day figuring this one out. The NIV 2011 for Lev. 16:8 reads: He
I explained yesterday about the “afflction of soul” not being simply some kind of self-harm, but a fundamental blow to the arrogant human urge to seize control, to be in charge of our own lives.
Wednesday—yesterday—was Yom Kippur, and we are in the height of the fall Jewish holy season. This prompted me to write a bit on the Day of Atonment to illustrate how Christians appropriate theologically and practically
Today marks the most holy day of Judaism, and Jerusalem is eerily quiet. Known as Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement,” it occupies the central place in the Fall season’s high holy days. Beginning with
It’s hard to miss it. I have seen “Gibeah of Saul” (aka Tell el-Ful) many times. Typically I spy it from the roof of Nebi Samwil, the mosque-and-synagogue marking the traditional tomb of the prophet
