Friday’s post here marked the end of a series on the nature of authority in Christianity. That series reinforced for me an old truth: that Tradition is applying the wisdom of the past in the new circumstances of the present, for the sake of the future. When it’s working well, Tradition doesn’t just look backward, … Continue reading The Mountaintop: A Reflection on Mark 9.2-9
There’s a popular saying out there that says “Hurt people hurt people.” It’s a helpful proverb that reminds us that people who are acting out are often acting more out of their past hurts and patterns than out of anything in the present. We see this at work everywhere from the playground to legislatures to … Continue reading Mimetic Love: A Reflection on 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
[I was well into writing this week's post when I realized I was saying pretty much exactly what I wrote three years ago when this reading last came around in the lectionary. So, here's that original post once again.] There's a great scene in a classic episode of The Simpsons in which Homer, having been … Continue reading The Freedom to Love: A Reflection on 1 Corinthians 8.1-13 (Repost)
Today’s Old Testament reading comes from the book of Jonah. And since it’s such a short book and doesn’t come up often in the lectionary, I thought today would be a great time to give it some thought. As I read through the story again, what struck me was what this story tells us about … Continue reading Your Private Ninevah: A Reflection on the Book of Jonah
[[NOTE: As much as I don't like reposting old material, I continue to think that the Epistle reading assigned to today is one of the most undervalued in all of Scripture and I don't think I have much more to add about it from what I wrote the last time it came up in the … Continue reading Everything is Permissible: A Reflection on 1 Corinthians 6.12-20 (Re-Post)
Matthew Root 