Jesus is rarely who we want him to be. We want him to be comfortable, reassuring, and safe, but he is none of these things. Jesus’ teaching is hard. If we really hear it, no matter where we are situated in terms of economics, society, or politics, it will make us uncomfortable, unsettled, and feel … Continue reading Jesus the Radical: A Reflection on Luke 6.27-38
So far in these meandering reflections on the nature of tradition, we’ve seen that tradition, while unavoidable and necessary for culture, is also always received through interpretation and a gleaning. Tradition is thus a changing artifact of an ever-changing people in ever-changing circumstances. We need humility about how we talk about even the most sacred … Continue reading Tradition(ed): ‘Holy’ Tradition
In its worst caricatures, tradition is presented as vain repetition, nothing more than doing and saying what people did and said in the past. But, as we’ve seen, this perspective doesn’t hit the mark on how tradition actually works. Tradition is an active process: we receive from the past but inevitably apply it to the … Continue reading Tradition(Ed): Creativity and Tradition
The other week, I wrote that if I could only have two pieces of Scripture to form my Bible, I’d choose Jesus’ appropriation of Isaiah 61 as his personal mission (Luke 4) and the first half of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). As it happens, today’s Gospel reading is Luke’s parallel telling of … Continue reading Blessed Are You Poor (in Spirit?): A Reflection on Luke 6.17-26
I recently came across a fascinating discussion about the role of literature in understanding the human condition. James Hillman, a pyschologist who had grown dissatisfied in his old age with the state of the discipline, said: Before there was psychology .. we had novels. All through the nineteenth century Jane Austen, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Balzac wrote … Continue reading Celebrating Black Stories
Matthew Root 