Jesus tells a parable about a bothersome widow who seeks justice against her oppressor. Day after day, the judge refuses to help her. But she persists, tirelessly bothering the judge until he’s sick of her very presence: “I will grant her justice,” he says to himself, “so that she may not wear me out. (In the Greek, “so that she won’t give me a black eye”!) … [To read more, click on title]
Category Archives: Reflections
Unpacking ‘Faith’
‘Disposition’ describes a mindset that meshes with the concept of belief and faith. Positively, it is willingness or openness to accept new inputs. I knew I was disposed to change for good. I was open and ready. But I also knew I couldn’t manage it on my own … [To read more, click on title]
What’s Outside Your Gate?
Admit it: society thinks of the well-to-do as ‘somebody’, treating them with respect and honour, while we treat the destitute with scorn and judgment. We think of them as a ‘nobody’.
In Jesus’s story of a rich man and a poor man notice how he reverses that. The rich man is not named; other than his riches he’s nobody in particular. But the poor man is somebody. He has a name: Lazarus … [To read more, click on the title]
Deploying Wealth
Every commentator I have looked at in order to get some guidance in interpreting this text starts by saying how difficult it is; one reflection that I read calls it ‘baffling’ and says that people have struggled to make sense of it for centuries. That gave me great confidence! … [To read more, click on title]
