Fake News
Joanne Gallardo
The Lectionary text this week comes from Matthew, often referred to as the “teacher’s gospel.” This passage in particular is one that highlights the blessing that is the teaching of Jesus. To be honest, this scripture goes everywhere. At first, we find Jesus followers, and Jesus in particular, to be under harsh scrutiny. Then, we […]
Even Solomon in all his Glory
Marilyn Rudy-Froese
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” (Matt.6:28-29; Luke 12:27) The Gospels of Matthew and Luke include this reference to Solomon in Jesus’ teaching about worry and anxiety over food, drink […]
A Search for Security
Dan Schrock
In the story of Ruth and Naomi, the overarching concern is for economic security, and its close cousin, food security. When their husbands die in chapter 1, Naomi and Ruth lose the income their husbands had brought into the household. With fewer economic resources, Naomi and Ruth are now more vulnerable to poverty and hunger. […]
A Time for Everything
Ginny Martin
Ecclesiastes is an unusual book of the Bible. It covers everything in life with bluntness, humor, and questioning. If you are an individual of doubt, then you could read this book. Here is some background information from the NRSV Harper Collins Study Bible (c1989, 986-988). Ecclesiastes stems from the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew […]
What The Preacher Said
Richard A. Kauffman
“In consolation, remember desolation. In desolation, remember consolation.” A great paradox; and this too sounds as though it is from Eccl., although it’s not. Ecclesiastes is full of paradox, contradictions, ambiguities that have long left readers puzzled. The writer seeks wisdom, knowing it is better to be wise than foolish, yet the wise and the […]