Reading the Bible inside a Jeepney: Celebrating Colonized and Occupied Peoples' capacity to beat swords into ploughshares; to transform weapons of mass destruction into instruments of mass celebration; mortar shells into church bells, teargas canisters to flowerpots; rifle barrels into flutes; U.S. Military Army Jeeps into Filipino Mass Transport Jeepneys.
Monday, February 10, 2025
Thursday, February 06, 2025
GO FISH!
Life during the time of Jesus was extremely difficult. Historians paint a Roman-occupied Palestine where the average life expectancy was under 30, the majority was suffocating in debt, and half of the population was slowly starving to death.
At the bottom of the social structure were farmers and fisherfolk. Nothing has changed. Farmers and fisherfolk remain at the bottom of the social structure today. Over 1.5 million families in the Philippines are fisherfolk. The poorest two out of every five poor people in the country are fisherfolk.
In Sunday's Gospel Reading Jesus calls fisherfolk to follow him in order to fish for people. A carpenter calls fisherfolk to fish. Jesus does not call anyone to worship him. Or to believe in him. Or to accept him as their Personal Savior and Lord. Or even to be a carpenter. Jesus calls us to follow him. To do what? To fish for people.
Many ancient peoples were afraid of the seas. They feared drowning; they feared the turbulent waves; they feared the ancient, eldritch leviathans they imagined lurking beneath the surface.
But Jesus does not call us to fish people out of their fear of the deep.
During Jesus's time, the Empire owned and controlled the seas! Taxes were imposed on fishing, on boats, on nets, on everything! In our lection, Simon tells Jesus that they were fishing all night and caught nothing.
Jesus's call to fish for people is a call for us to follow him in taking out people from systems and structures that oppress, that dehumanize, that subjugate, that murder.
And who are the people who experience the evil of these systems and structures every single moment of their lives? Fisherfolk. Genuine transformation always comes from below, from among those at greatest risk of drowning, from the toiling masses, from among those whose only hope is God. The call has not changed. People, especially the most vulnerable, are drowning in imperial waters. Trump back as POTUS makes things worse.
Jesus is calling us right now to follow him and fish for people.
*Art, "Miracle Catch" by Mike Moyers. To purchase Moyer's works, please visit mikemoyersfineartdotcom. Image accessed from vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.
Wednesday, February 05, 2025
IN MEMORY OF ONESIMUS
Live on Amazon now: https://a.co/d/gtFSirL
IN MEMORY OF ONESIMUS:
Reading Philemon inside a Jeepney
Reading Philemon inside a Jeepney involves privileging Onesimus. Not Paul. Nor Philemon. Paul describes Onesimus as useless in the epistle. But “useless” is a relative term. The tens of thousands of rusted military jeeps the US Army thought useless at the end of World War II in the Philippines, Filipinos found useful as raw materials for what was to become the most popular mode of mass transportation in the islands, the jeepney...
Monday, February 03, 2025
CELEBRATING THE BIBLE, DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
How Many Squares Do You See? https://a.co/d/iwqqRqu
The Shortest Short Introduction to the Bible https://a.co/d/1NJEoYO
The Shortest Short Introduction to Biblical Interpretation https://a.co/d/0zvhFB2
The Shortest Short Introduction to the New Testament https://a.co/d/5VOiiw6
The Shortest Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible https://a.co/d/7F6CRi0
Sunday, February 02, 2025
Saturday, February 01, 2025
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
The "How Many Squares Do You See?" Books are designed to teach young people about the Bible, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Trump and his ilk will definitely NOT read these books. They'd probably find the books "nasty" for "promoting the woke DEI agenda threatening America!"
So, why not get them while you still can?
How Many Squares Do You See? https://a.co/d/iwqqRqu
The Shortest Short Introduction to the Bible https://a.co/d/1NJEoYO
The Shortest Short Introduction to Biblical Interpretation https://a.co/d/0zvhFB2
The Shortest Short Introduction to the New Testament https://a.co/d/5VOiiw6
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THE PARABLE OF THE "BAD" SAMARITAN AND HIS DONKEY
We love the Parable. Most of us identify with the Samaritan. We name our institutions after him. I know of a Good Samaritan Hosp...
