Category Archives: Theodicy

God Suffers with Us

Posted on January 5, 2021 by SuddenSeeing

So there You are, standing beside me, wringing Your hands. This idea is supposed to comfort me. I am told this is the theology of the cross. Fleming Rutledge says “The New Testament presents us with not two but three … Continue reading →

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Praying in My Own Words, part 1

Posted on December 29, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

If I was going to pray to You off the top of my head, without the benefit of the Book of Common Prayer, I might talk about things that are too hard to mention, they are too painful, and You … Continue reading →

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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 →

Posted in Bad ideas about God, Bible, Career values and work life, God is like, Theodicy | Leave a comment

Walking on the Sea, part 5

Posted on August 21, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

OK. It’s you. You’re up. You’re going to tell someone what’s important, to you, about Jesus walking on the sea. In case it’s helpful, here’s a summary: Jesus told the disciples to go ahead. They obeyed, and trouble came up. … Continue reading →

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COVID-19 and Some Massachusetts Towns and Cities

Posted on June 30, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

Look! Data about the towns along route 117 in Massachusetts — and the city of Chelsea, the COVID-19 epicenter of Massachusetts. Many people there live crowded together, and they do all the kinds of work that put them in the … Continue reading →

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Level with Me, part 4

Posted on June 26, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

A few days ago, I attended an online anti-racism conference of church people in a denomination not my own. It was open to the world at large and I was curious. In the zoom tic-tac-toe window I saw the same … Continue reading →

Posted in Episcopalians, Anglicanism, Praying, Theodicy | 2 Comments

Level with Me, part 1

Posted on June 16, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

Come on, O Lord God my Heavenly Father. You know and I know: Nothing changes. Human beings don’t improve, not for real, not permanently. About the best that can be said is that we sometimes fade into each other and … Continue reading →

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A Bishop Said

Posted on June 5, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

Here’s what one of Your bishops says: As an ELCA Lutheran, we believe that the Bible is a vessel and that through it God’s Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in the … Continue reading →

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Fifty Years and Eight Minutes

Posted on June 2, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

Watching news stories that could be from 50 years ago. Calls for white people to remake ourselves will not succeed any better now than they did 50 years ago. The need to belittle others, abuse them, and brutalize them, seems … Continue reading →

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Child of God

Posted on May 29, 2020 by SuddenSeeing

I can’t concentrate, can you? I can’t keep my thoughts on my work, yet as a new employee I want to be quick and productive. I’m not. I look at my laptop screen and my big monitor and I promise … Continue reading →

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