Tag Archives: Mark in Lent 2018

By what authority do you do these things? they asked Jesus, and by that they meant “boss,” and so he tap-sandaled all around them meeting question with question, playing a jeopardy he could not win. By what authority do you … Continue reading →

I am a catcher of pigeons, a lucky one on this morning of upturned tables and feathers. I do not steal coins, even though they roll to my toes, even though I was praying in this house of prayer that … Continue reading →

First untie the donkey the one that’s standing at the gate waiting to be untied — from some sorrow or some guilt, from someone else’s judgment — too young for the ride, or too old, too much ink on the … Continue reading →

Mark talking Jesus talking love is not nearly as sweet or meme-able as John. Love women in a culture that throws them away. Love children, other people’s children, as if they aren’t disposable. Love the actual poor – turn-out-your-pockets love, … Continue reading →

They were delayed between planes – when he told them about his death, how everything would feel ponzi in the end. And he wanted to know what they’d been arguing about up there in business class, while he was in … Continue reading →

We see a Muslim sheltering a refugee, a Hindu healing the sick, spiritual but not religious folks willing to stand against immigration bans, against demonizing of people from other countries, atheists who practice civil disobedience for the sake of creation … Continue reading →

The insiders grab pitons and crampons, some spiritual version of gear, and start to climb, but the boys back at base camp see only a flash of pyrotechnics, faintly hear a man with no sense of rhythm playing a tambourine … Continue reading →

My Lenten walk through the gospel of Mark is almost only my words but this poem by Stephen Price spoke to me deeply, and I am grateful for his permission to put it here as I reflect on the Bad … Continue reading →

Famously cited as the emotional and theological center of Mark’s gospel – comes Simon Peter’s response to Jesus asking who they thought he was. You are the Messiah. It is stark here. The other gospel writers made more of it, … Continue reading →

For those whose cancer has mutated and it no longer responds to the oral chemo that has been shrinking tumors, for those whose long-trusted medications for a mental diagnosis are no longer working or are creating terrible side effects, and … Continue reading →