Why do you trouble this woman?

September 15, 2024 • William A. Evertsberg

WDJA (What Did Jesus Ask?) I: Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

September 8, 2024 • William A. Evertsberg • Matthew 6:25–34

We know worry can kill us. Worry makes you older. Literally. Worry raises your blood pressure and beats up on your heart. Worry makes you depressed. If you have arthritis or diabetes, worry makes them worse. I get a cold every January 1. Like clockwork. It’s because the stress of the holiday suppressed my immune system. I would be a lot healthier if I would just chill out.  So we know Jesus is right. The trouble is, it’s impossible to follow his advice. You can’t force your brain to stop worrying by an act of will. Bobby McFerrin’s advice—“Don’t worry; be happy”—is the most useless suggestion in history. Still, we’ve got to try. We’ve got to stop thinking that the future depends completely on us. Someone said that worrying is akin to atheism. It’s pretending that a benevolent, capable deity hasn’t got a handle on our lives, the world, and the future. I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you see his point.

V: At The Creek by David Romtvedt

September 1, 2024 • Christine V. Hides • Mark 6:30–33

Today’s scripture is just a snippet from Mark chapter 6, a couple sentences of introduction to the feeding of five thousand. Jesus has been traveling all around Galilee, calling disciples, healing people, and offending his hometown on a visit to the synagogue. By this chapter he has already taught six of the nine parables in Mark’s Gospel. Patches, wineskins, lamps, and seeds are the tangible, ordinary objects Jesus used to describe the indescribable life with God.   Life with God is a present possibility even in anxious times. The verses just before this reading recall the death of Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist, who was beheaded by Herod; a stark reminder that Jesus’ life is set in the context of the violent and oppressive first century Roman Empire. This little bit of text is sandwiched between a funeral and a miraculous feast.