[This is the text of a short homily I gave at a family Zoom Christmas Eve service on December 24, 2021.] -- Picture it: Jerusalem, sometime in the 730s BCE. The world as you know it is being shaken by the rise of an empire in the far northeast, the likes of which no one … Continue reading A Word of Hope: A Reflection for Christmas Eve 2021
I've been doing some preliminary work the past few days on my year-end practices, specifically looking at what I've written here on the blog in 2021. I was surprised by how often the theme of listening has come up here. It's come up in posts on Black Theology and repentance, and in the series on … Continue reading Signs of the Times: Listen.
It is one of the sad realities of Christian history that the Roman Empire conquered Christianity — not by persecuting it, but by adopting it. Despite the valiant efforts of monastics, mystics, and reformers, who have offered up a 'minority report' in every generation, for the most part, Christianity has been enmeshed with ideas of … Continue reading The Song of the Lowly: A Reflection on Luke 1.39-55
A few weeks ago, some graffiti started appearing in my part of the city that reads, "The art you see is the signs of the times." It reminded me of a great art exhibit I once saw of work from the 1910s, and how jarring and apocalyptic the images became during those years, not only … Continue reading Signs of the Times: LOOK
As December pushes on with all its unrelenting preparations and pressures, our Sunday Gospels in Advent are much the same: unrelenting in their insistence that we stop and pay attention and prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord. Today's Gospel, Luke 3.7-18, once again features John the Baptist, unrelentingly and unrepentantly preparing the way … Continue reading Baptism with Fire: A Reflection on Luke 3.7-18
Matthew Root 