God of ages has called me to the Second Mile,
To walk with my sisters through the Valley.
I pray for the strength and the good courage to continue the walk.
To be there in the darkness, to be there in the light,
The Second Mile is to be there.
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There are many others more qualified than I to represent a theological and philosophical apologetic for an “egalitarian” or “mutuality” point of view regarding women in the church. As someone who a decade ago experienced my first wife leave me, leading to divorce, I realize my personal life could also be seen as a less than-convincing egalitarian argument. If anyone talked with Carol, my wife, who loves me despite my blindness and insensitiveness, I would be further exposed as a very imperfect example of an egalitarian husband.
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When the star in the sky is gone
When the kings and the princes are home
When the shepherds are back with their flocks
The work of Christmas begins—
Why am I here and not there?
I am HERE because I have been THERE.
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Could Mary have refused,
when it was offered her,
When I saw my cousin again,
I had walked all day,
my ankles swollen like my feet.
Her bright eyes made my journey worth it.
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As with Mary,
it was the sound of angel wings
that broke the silence.
Jewels come in unexpected settings.
Take Corinth in ancient Greece: more rock than mineral.
Rocks piled into rude temples to designer gods.
Rocks hewn out with curved grooves where heads were laid so necks could be severed.
Rocks scattered down, a Roman highway to bring in refugees from across the world.
Rocks propped up for businesses—and in one of these three diamonds glowed.
These were not the jewels of vain display, but industrial diamonds, hard tools for work—three gems brought in from two other settings, shining with the pastel hue of otherworldly mystic Judaism and bright with the golden brocade of this-worldly Imperial Rome.
Snow falls gently
like little promises accumulating over the years,
piling into great mounds of failed commitment.
Too large to ignore,
it stands grim sentinel in the chill of resentment,
but it slowly melts away under the sunshine of mercy.