The Heart of the Matter
(Inspired, in part, by Aretha Franklin and John McCain, two of the great Reminders) My poor grandmother. I was the oldest of the next generation. The two of us. We didn’t know what to do with each other. Who knows how many times she blessed my heart. “Bless your heart.” Then there was that other […]
Friendship with God
Now that it is planting and growing season it is also time to start getting ready for canning season. Getting all the jars ready, the lids, the rings, the spices, the special salt. It is fun watching a cabinet of clean, empty downturned jars, one by one turned upright and filled with all those colors […]
Muscadine and Jesus Vines
The last frost date has come and gone, two weeks past. Around here that is April 15th. That means it is time to plant. It is time for things to grow, to flower and fruit. I started a new raised bed. We’ve been composting so I added two bins of homemade soil. I planted some […]
RELENTLESS
Easter 4b 2018 Ps 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18 22 April, Jack Hardaway Make no mistake, we are more than sheep. We are all either hired hands or wolves as well, or both. But there is only one Good Shepherd. That is the whole point of this day. Jesus. He is the shepherd of […]
The Rise of Forgiveness
I have no idea what I’m talking about. Forgiveness. I know so little about it. I’ve had to give so little of it. Only little things really. That seems to be about all I can handle. There is the absolution of sins that priests are always busy working with and casting forth like a sower […]
Easter Sunday 2018 – Video & Text
https://www.facebook.com/111206155580409/videos/1888063597894647/ RISEN What was closed has been opened. What was full has been emptied. What was dark has been filled with light. What had ended has begun. What was a grave has become labor and delivery. What was too little too late has become more than enough all the time. Where there were words there […]
Playing in the Dirt
God likes dirt. The creation story, right there at the beginning of it, God plays in the dust of the earth, shapes a human form and breathes life into it. The first thing almost, God playing in the dirt, and making dirt people, earthlings, that is what the word Adam means. It is a very […]
Snake Stories
One time we opened a kitchen cabinet and a snake fell out. Well, looky there! A sight to see! A little thing. It had a diamond pattern. It rattled its tail. I thought it was a baby rattler, turns out it was just a juvenile black rat snake. They imitate rattlesnakes, pretty good at it […]
The Human Body
Lately I’ve been thinking about the human body. How we honor it and treat it. I recently watched as a friend was carefully and tenderly washed as they prepared to die. It was beautiful. I’ve been thinking of the tradition of the Pieta in painting and sculpture, of Mary tenderly caring for the body of […]
Burial: William O. Ducworth Jr.
https://www.facebook.com/111206155580409/videos/1842494569118217/ Burial William O. Ducworth Jr. 21 August 1961-16 February 2018 19 February Jack Hardaway To know Bill Ducworth is to be simultaneously in love and infuriated pretty much all the time. He had this manic vitality that was catching, always on the verge of tipping over the edge into neurotic distraction, well maybe a […]
The Big Tent
The circus comes to town! But no one notices… They parade down the street, Elephants striding, Tigers growling, Lions leaping, clowns clapping, the trapeze artists flipping, the music bombasting, the greatest show ashowing, and no one sees…walking by, stepping around, driving away. It was such a sight not to see. They set up the Giant […]
Your People
YOUR PEOPLE Moses and God. God and Moses. They argued. A lot. Like an old married couple. They argue about us, their children. To whom do we belong? “Look what your people are doing!” they each said pointing at each other. Your people! No, your people! We revel before the idol, the golden calf, forged […]
Where’s the Water?
Have you ever noticed that the Bible has this thing about water? The Spirit brooded over the waters at the creation. The flood of Noah. The Nile turned to blood. The parting of the Red Sea. The crossing of the Jordan River. Jonah being cast into the sea. Jesus baptism in the Jordan. Jesus’ command […]
You’re Hired!
You know those old cars. Not the antique ones that are all prettied up, but the old ones that you can hear coming. They have their own particular rattle and rumble that you learn to recognize. Here comes that old pick up with a faded pizza sign stuck on the roof, rattle, rattle, rumble, rumble. […]
Holy Ground
We all know someone like him. Who has everything. Who is gifted. Who has all the advantages. Everything is going for him. A bright future full of promise but who despite it all throws it away. Moses. Moses was a murderer. A life of privilege and miraculous rescue, yet he committed murder. It was an […]
Living the Dream
This is the story of a family. More specifically it is the story of a family with dark secrets that destroy it. Surprisingly it is also the story of bringing good out of bad. It is a story that shows us something about God and the way of God in a world full of dark […]