July is cord blood awareness month. Cord blood is nutrient-rich blood which flows from a pregnant mother’s placenta to her baby via the umbilical cord[1]. The umbilical cord is the lifeline between mother and child. Ironically, this July my mother had another close shave with death. Early one morning, my mother complained that she wasn’t […]
Cords of life, death, sisterhood, friendship, faith Read More »
Was Jesus incredibly rude to a desperate mother? Why didn’t his biographers bury the story? This Sunday the lectionary invites us to ponder Jesus’ encounter with a desperate woman, reported in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 15, verses 21-28. The Gospel of Mark gives a parallel account, in chapter 7, verses 24-30. Matthew calls her
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Why did Jesus water-walk but not teleport?[1] You know the report. After Jesus “fed the 5,000,” it was dark. But Jesus insisted[2] his disciples set off on a dangerous night journey across the sea (lake) of Galilee, without him, before he dismissed the crowds. There was a terrible storm. The disciples rowed for hours. They
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Why did Jesus enact the miracle of 5 loaves and 2 fish? There are four authorized accounts of the life of Jesus. Called “gospels,” they are named after their authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. All of them report Jesus’ miracle of “feeding the 5,000 (men).”[1] The gospel reading for this Sunday is Matthew’s account
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If it has feathers, it’s a bird. If it runs on tracks, it’s a train. If he plays a guitar, he’s a guitarist. If she ??? she’s a Christian? This Sunday, we will hear two parables told by Jesus. The text is in the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. As I wrote
How do they know she’s a Christian? Read More »
The sermon on Sunday moved me to think about shattered glass. I left with a burdened heart, carrying the word back. We notice glass in our daily lives in many forms that range from shower screens in our baths to our gadgets and the beauty of Kuala Lumpur’s skyline. Glass can be very fragile yet
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The parable of the wheat and the tares (weeds) is one of the lections (readings) for this Sunday. Like all good parables, it doesn’t make immediate sense. Even after reading the explanation given by Jesus. It’s a parable, a simple story with deep, mystical meaning, often pushing the hearer into a corner, confronting him or
Don’t pull out the weeds? Read More »
“A year of colour and sex” is how the author puts it. He gushes. Over what? Over the abundant flowering of trees. In the jungles. He begins: It has been a year of colour and sex for the lowland rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia. This [2019] is a “mast year,” when dozens of tree species
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“Please like and subscribe.” This is the ubiquitous catch-phrase found in every YouTube video. Then there is the tongue in cheek response by stand-up comic Jocelyn Chia when she said “Honestly, if Interpol did something about this request and things escalated, can you imagine how famous it is going to make me?”[1] Why is it
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We want to be smart. We want our kids to be smart. We mortgage our properties, exhaust our savings, in order to send our kids to universities. We love degrees. We read reports, books, stories. We love learning. The gospel selection in this Sunday’s lectionary reading, Matthew 11:16-19; 25-30, feels like a smack in our
Have you put on the yoke of Jesus? Read More »
