A mere observation

A number of weeks ago I made this blog private.  One of my numerous reasons was to have a controlled venue to write more, and to write more fully and candidly.  This never happened, in fact, not one post of any sort was written.  Another reason was to re-evaluate my profile. It still holds true and I am back again, embracing ambiguity more than ever, for it will not leave me.

A Friday non-update

This is my first post on the new interface.  I haven't liked it since it transitioned automatically, but I'm just being "intransigent".  Actually, I've been thinking of shutting down this blog, or making it by invitation only, or maybe I'm just taking a break. I haven't decided yet about this, or where I want to take my scribblings, online, or otherwise.

What irony!

An SUV swerved and switched lanes ahead of us, without signalling today.  I wouldn't comment on this, as it's a frightfully commonplace experience.  However, the licence place read "JSTGRACE".   Ha!  They'll need more than that and then some.  But God is gracious.

"I am not ashamed of the Gospel..."

~Romans 1:16~

It's hard to continue writing this post when I am bogged down in a morass of much that is unbloggable, but write it I shall.

In 1979 I used to listen to the circling repetitive crescendoing of my LP by the Liberated Wailing Wall. The climax from "Make Ready" to "The Arm of the Lord" was this, the final song on the album with the triumphant echoes, even when fading, that retain their power for me to hope that all will be well in the end.  I realise how feeble that sounds, but that's what it was: hope over faith. The evenings were long and the turmoil great.

Fast forward to thirty-three years later and I have just finished a course on the Apostle, on the books of Romans, I Corinthians, and Galatians specifically.  I struggled with his density, the densities of related readings, and certainly with other preoccupations, but I think I can him read him devotionally with a smidgen of more understanding and respect than prior to this course.  I can appreciate the Jewishness of St. Paul and this particular verse in a way that I could not before.  I wonder if my hope still ultimately outweighs my faith.

Christ is Risen!

I greet my Orthodox Christian friends and readers "with the feast", wishing I could be with you all.
May the Lord lead every one of us to His Pascha!

"Sing to Jesus"

My song for this week with its messy aspects.  I need to continually remember and confess this declaration: "Lord of our shame"

"Sing to Jesus/Lord of our shame/Lord of our sinful hearts/He is our great Redeemer/Sing to Jesus/Honor His name/Sing of His faithfulness/Pouring His life out unto death."

Thank you, Fernando Ortega.

"The Cross and the Heart of God"

This is today's reading from the Henri Nouwen Lenten devotional booklet : "Renewed for Life".
It especially strikes me this year because of some of the acute and present suffering in my immediate circles, spilling over and over into the wider circles of suffering.

"Good Friday is much more than reliving the passion of Jesus; it is entering into solidarity with the passion of all people of our planet, whether in the past, the present, or the future.  In Jesus all human suffering is collected.  The broken heart of Jesus is the broken heart of God.  The broken heart of God is the broken heart of the world."