Category Archives: God is like

The Faithful Techno-serfs, part 4

Posted on November 20, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

If Matthew 25:14-30 is a simple narrative about the world, what makes it a parable? In  a parable, one thing stands in for another. It seems to me, offhand, that in all parables, the Man With Resources is a stand-in … Continue reading →

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The Faithful Techno-serfs, part 1

Posted on November 10, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

I’m hoping that this sentence is sufficiently dull. I want to make sure that my blog does not fall into the trap of beginning each post with a cheesy hook. You know: draw the reader in by beginning in medias … Continue reading →

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Beside Me

Posted on October 16, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

Sit with me. You understand You’re second best. You won’t answer no matter what I say. There used to be someone who would answer. My childhood bedroom was in the front of our little ranch house. My windows looked up … Continue reading →

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Someone with Me

Posted on October 6, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

God is with me. No. Jesus is with me. Well, no. But I imagine that he is. The reality is, I am missing someone terribly. A human being. I am mourning for a life that is over. So I imagine … Continue reading →

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Beatitudes: What You Want, part 2

Posted on October 2, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

The use of the emphatic pronoun αυτοϛ is as if a 65-year-old man met his 38-year-old daughter in a neighborhood of Leominster, Masssachusetts, and stood on the sidewalk with her, considering a house. “Very nice,” he said, “Very pleasant-looking house. … Continue reading →

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Beatitudes: What You Want, part 1

Posted on September 29, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

Bill Mounce says that the emphatic third person pronoun in the Beatitudes, αυτος (pronounced ow-tahss) means they alone. The nuance of αυτος is that they alone will receive the blessing… Jesus is not saying that those who mourn, among others, … Continue reading →

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Endings

Posted on September 8, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

There’s abandoned farm equipment in the woods near me. Rusted, curving blade-plates menace behind axles half sunk in the mud, a trailer lists on flat tires, a tractor cab, door-off-hinges, reveals a still-gleaming steering wheel and torn upholstery. I always … Continue reading →

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Walking on the Sea, part 3

Posted on August 14, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

Peter, forgetting everything, stands up and shouts — No – it’s me, it’s you, isn’t it? Peter tells Jesus what to say: Tell me to come to you. Jesus replies: Come. Peter steps onto the water. It’s an act of … Continue reading →

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Walking on the Sea, part 2

Posted on August 11, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

It matters what Jesus walked on. Some translations say water, some say the lake. The translations I look at most frequently say the sea. For translators who choose that term, the distinction between the sea and any other candidate is … Continue reading →

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Walking on the Sea, part 1

Posted on August 7, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

Here’s a story – maybe the story – that causes people to conclude that Christianity is Moronic Idiotic Completely fantastical A waste of time Here’s the heart of it, from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 14, verses 25-26: And in … Continue reading →

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