This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Orpah is the legal, first name of the TV personality better known as Oprah. Yes, it’s true, Orpah Gayle Winfrey was named after the biblical character Orpah. Like many female figures in the Bible, very little is known about Orpah which results […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Nunc Dimittis is the Latin title given to the prayer or poem uttered by Simeon upon seeing Jesus. In the Vulgate it begins, Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine. “Now you are dismissing your servant in peace, Lord.” Simeon was a faithful man […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Memory is a fraught and fickle thing. What may seem certain and fixed in our minds as fact may be, to another rememberer, something entirely different. Something we may desperately […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Lament is missing in our society today. We are withering emotionally for the lack of the ability (and acceptability) to lament, both corporately and individually. Lamentation is the powerful and public expression our grief and sorrow and we no longer know how […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Kadesh means “sanctuary,” and derives from the same Hebrew root that gives us the word for “holy,” and it is the place in the wilderness where the Israelites stop before they make their promised entry into the land flowing with milk and […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Jahwe is how it is spelled in German. In English we usually render it Yahweh. In Hebrew it originally only had the consonants יהוה, YHWH. It is one rendering of the Name that God provides Moses with when asked, “If I come […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” In-between is the adjective that describes the state in which we we always live. We exist between events, duties, relationships, careers. The Bible is full of examples of individuals and communities on the move from one place to another, living as nomads, […]
Almost a year ago I was a listener contestant on WWDTM. I was in the “Who’s Bill This Time?” segment, right at the top of the show. I selected Adam Felber to record my voicemail and offered a few suggestions as to a script. I have had it for a while […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Heresy is “a belief contrary to orthodox religious teachings or doctrine.” That is the general definition, but it is too broad to simply say “a belief contrary to orthodox religious teachings” since everyone at some point, even the most devout, hold various […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” God is a word. G, O, D are letters that together make up a simple word. A simple word that can be used as an expletive, as punctuation, or as a sign representing perhaps the most complex, cryptic, concept of the divine. […]