All Saints Day (Year B, RCL)

John of Patmos presents readers of Revelation with fantastical visions of what life could be, just as Dickens does to Scrooge.

After the anointing at Bethany, Judas asks why the fragrance wasn't sold and the money given to charity. A more apt question might be why Mary didn't use it on her brother Lazarus, dead just a few days before.

I was a little girl, sitting near the front row of the church. My legs could not touch the floor, and I had to hold my hands laced in my lap so that I could remain still. I stared at the coffin before me.

When I read John 11 and heard Jesus thundering, “Unbind him and let him go!" I realized I had not forgiven my father.

Christians didn’t baptize Aldo Leopold’s land ethic after the fact. They got there years before his work.

I know what Jesus is doing in this story; I have three small children. He's dawdling.

I want the kingdom of God to be civilized. If possible I'd like to be able to keep sleeping in my own bed.

These days, we need a strong current of theological explication of Christian eschatology. Richard Middleton has stepped forward—and his book doesn't even mention zombies.

Perhaps it's only when we let go of who and what our loved one was that we can receive who they are now.

The story of the golden calf is a parody of Israelite idolatry.

In this life, sanctification is gradual and difficult. Why would it be different in the life to come?

At our first outdoor procession, I felt awkward. I’d led liturgies before, but my church life and my real life didn’t usually intersect so publicly.

How can Paul navigate the choppy waters of a pagan environment, with its idols and temples? The obvious place to start is the Shema.

Many churches, including mine, will mark All Saints Day this Sunday. Of course, politics will also be on everyone’s mind. At first it seemed to me that the two have little in common, but then several connections occurred to me.