In the 14th century, when Ruysbroeck lived, there was no doubt a great deal of illiteracy, especially if that is understood to mean the inability to read and write Latin, the language of the church. Therefore images and rituals were a significant component in worship. Churches had stained glass windows Read more…
Read Luke 14:25-33. Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26) So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. (Luke Read more…
Jan van Ruysbroeck (or Ruusbroec; 1293 or 1294-1381) was a great fourteenth-century contemplative of the Low Countries. He wrote in the vernacular, middle Dutch, rather than Latin. He was a proponent of a “common” or mixed active and contemplative life. Of him, Evelyn Underhill said that “Ruusbroec is thought, by Read more…
Read Exodus 20:9-24 and Hebrews 12:18-29. When the Israelites were at Mt Sinai, Moses told them that the Lord would come down from the mountain in the sight of all the people. They were not to draw near: people and animals who touched the mountain were to be stoned or Read more…
And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it Read more…
Read Luke 12:32-40. In fact, just read all of Luke 12 up to verse 40. Sell your possessions, and give alms. (Luke 12:33a) What drives you to do what you do? Why do you get up in the morning and go to work? Why do you get dressed and eat Read more…
Read Colossians 3:1-17. NT Wright reminds us that the Christian hope is not for escaping this world of conflict and getting into a disembodied “heaven,” but for a resurrection of the body into a new heaven and a new earth. While we may be conscious and with Christ between death Read more…
Read Luke 11:1-13 So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. (Luke 11:9) When I was growing up, sitting in a long, boring church service, counting bricks, counting tiles, studying how the Read more…
Read Colossians 1:15-28. I became the servant [of the church] according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. (Colossians 1:25-26) Read more…
Read Luke 10:25-37. You may have heard the story of the Good Samaritan many times, but at least in my case there has never been much sympathy for the priest and the Levite. Yet their passing on the other side of the road is an attempt to obey God’s law. Read more…