Colourful Dreamer

We are more than halfway through the 50 days of Easter – a season to celebrate and reflect on the resurrection and how we are to live resurrection lives today. We have finished with the rousing stories of Jesus resurrection and will spent the next 3 weeks in Jesus’ final pep talk to the disciples as they and he prepare for the horrors that lies ahead. And we hear of Stephen being stoned. It somehow seems wrong. And it is also more real. Confusion is at play   in both John and Acts. The disciples are confused by what Jesus is talking about. They are afraid and want straightforward answers. Where is Jesus going and how can they follow? What is the way? And Jesus does not give straightforward answers. And yet so often we read this as if he is. Angela N. Parker says, “We must be people of the way (that Jesus lived) , being the dream and hope of God, as we participate in abundant life while here on earth together…. Our greater works must exhibit the way, the truth, and the life for ...

Welcome to Good Shepherd Sunday! All fourth Sundays of Easter are Good Shepherd Sunday. This tradition is a significant theme in scripture and in John’s gospel. Kenneth Bailey [1] proposes this tradition begins with 23 rd Psalm. The writer uses the ordinary work of a shepherd to describe how God seeks out the lost sheep, brings them home, protects them, and provides all they need to flourish. Bailey describes how this basic tradition is then reinterpreted again and again through threats, exile and beyond. And now by Jesus in today’s reading from John 10. This is not just Jesus’ reinterpretation. It is also John’s. He sets his version within the story of the man born blind who was healed, was then cast out by the Jewish leaders, and then became a disciple and was included in Jesus own community of followers. Everything Jesus says relates back to those very concrete acts. And we hear echoes of this as Lazarus and Mary hear the shepherd’s voice and respond. Jesus becomes the shepherd ...

  Gate Pa – Year B   Easter Sunday 2024 Readings: First Reading:             Isaiah 25:6-9                             Second Reading:         Acts 10:34-43                           Gospel:                        John 20:1-18    What I want to say: Our friend died this time 2 years ago in Holy Week. The resurrection affirms that she is with God now. Swallowed in God’s life. I don’t know what that means or what it looks life. That is ok. I trust God for all that. This story is bigger than Liz, or me, getting ...