Ched’s new book is now out! However, in respect for the huge losses and trauma from the Los Angeles fires this month (see more below), we have moved our launch party back: from Feb 15th to Saturday, April 5th.
Today is the 500th anniversary of a group of radicals who defied the Zürich city council by baptizing each other as adults the night of January 21, 1525. This fanned the embers of the Radical Reformation and Anabaptist movements.
The fact that Trump’s inauguration will take place on Jan 20th—the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday—is a clear indicator of how confused and conflicted this country is (see a concise commentary by the Boggs Center’s Shea Howell here). So on this January 15th (the actual birthday of our country’s greatest prophet), I’ll offer a few thoughts on the problem of plutocracy in this Second Gilded Age.
We are back on the trail of weekly posts on Luke and Year C. Tuesday began the season of Epiphany (see this piece on Epiphany under Empire). The first Sunday (1/12) is traditionally celebrated as the Feast of Jesus Baptism. Here are some (edited) notes from Healing Affluenza and Resisting Plutocracy:
The episode of the young Jesus in the Temple is Luke’s “epilogue” to his nativity story, and unique to the Third Gospel. While there are many later apocryphal tales that speculated on Jesus’ childhood (most of them quite fanciful; see here), this is our only biblical testimony.
Luke’s Nativity Story. I call Luke 1–2 a prelude instead of a prologue because of how the Nativity drama is composed around three canticles: Mary’s “Magnificat” (1:46–55); Zechariah’s “Benedictus” (1:68–79); and Simeon’s “Nunc Dimittis” (2:29–32). The long tradition of singing carols during Advent and Christmas is rooted singularly in Luke’s narrative.
This is the second of a series of commentaries on Lukan Gospel readings that lie at the intersection of the Year C Revised Common Lectionary and texts I’ve explored in Healing Affluenza and Resisting Patriarchy: Luke’s Jesus and Sabbath Economics.
Friends: Today in this space I’m beginning a year-long series of comments on Lukan gospel Year C lections. Context: Advent marks the beginning of the Year C Revised Common Lectionary’s journey through Luke for the Sunday Gospel reading. Tomorrow’s 2nd Sunday of Advent brings the first of the readings that lie at the intersection…
The lectionary Gospel reading for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost (Oct 27) was Mark 10:45-52: the tale of Bartimaeus. The following meditation celebrates the triennial “Feast of Bartimaeus,” and includes parts that Ched shared on the Oct 24th Sabeel Wave of Prayer
Last week the wonderful Janet Wolf invited us to send a message to our friend and mentor Marion Wright Edelman for her 85th birthday on June 6th. Here’s what I wrote: Dearest Marion: We have so missed seeing you each summer at the Proctor Institute; the last time was, 2019, pre-Covid! I want you to…