The Adventurous Parson: Neo and John the Baptist: The Matrix as an Advent story

See my post on the Episcopal feminist blog ...
John the Baptist, Neo, and violent young American gunmen ...
thoughts on the Third Week of Advent

Are we all the woman with her waterjar?

O Jesus,
Image of the invisible God,
Word made flesh,
tired stranger,
waiting in the noonday lull
at Jacob’s well.

Are we all
the woman with her waterjar,
bent on the chore of the moment,
angry memories in our bones,
our thirst for God
hidden in the business of the day?

Do you meet us gently too,
hardly recognized,
quietly leading our thoughts
towards the deeper waters,
where our souls find rest?

Probing too,
uncovering secrets
we would rather forget.
“Lord, you have probed me,
You know when I sit and when I stand,
You know my thoughts from afar.”

Is the woman,
sure and strong,
our reflection:
sure but unsure,
strong but so weak,
seeking but afraid to find
our Savior so close by?

by Victor Hoagland

What I'm reading now

Sermons in Stone ... is a lovely little book that tells the story of New York and New England in terms of its landscapes and stone walls.
Moby-Dick! We went to the marathon reading of this Great American Novel, at the Whaling Museum in New Bedford. YES! Read it!
Rabble-Rouser for Peace: the authorized biography of Desmond Tutu, by John Allen -- this is a wonderful read about the beloved Desmond. It's a social history of Africa in the late 20th century, of the end of colonialism and the power of the Christian faith in a place where it was not supposed to incite a revolution.
Blonde Faith: the tenth Easy Rawlins Thriller -- Walter Moseley's latest. It was terrific! I won't spoil the end, but if you are an Easy Rawlins fan, don't miss it.
Doing Theology in Altab Ali Park -- by Ken Leech. I'm reading it carefully and taking notes. It really is an excellent reflection on the work we can do here in Brockton.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes

I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow
of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went
down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn
all golden in the sunset.

I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

The Adventurous Parson

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Neo and John the Baptist: The Matrix as an Advent story

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