A recurring theme here lately has been the contrasts between the kingdoms of this world and their theologies of glory on the one hand, and the kingdom of God with its theology of the cross on the other. Nowhere does Christianity’s theology of the cross come to the fore more than in the Western Christian … Continue reading A Kingdom of Dust and Ashes: A Reflection for Ash Wednesday 2026
This week, I returned to a Scripture reading practice. What sets this practice apart from the other Scripture-related practices I’ve explored in this space is that the primary focus is on the reading of the text, rather than on interpreting it or experiencing it. This week, I read from the lectionary, a set list of … Continue reading The Lectionary
When we think about how Christians have historically sought to discern truth, this is really quite remarkable. But, according to Jesus, truth is to be judged not by fidelity to tradition or to the letter of Scripture, but by the fruit it bears, by its consequences in and for the world.
This week was the first full week of Lent, and so I wanted the practice for this week to be a specifically Lenten practice. And, since I first encountered it twelve years ago, no practice has jumped out at me as being ‘more’ Lenten, than the Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian. The famed … Continue reading Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian
Christian daily prayer services, known as offices, developed into their canonical form with the rise of monastic daily cycles of prayer, known as the Hours.
Matthew Root 