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St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Birmingham, AL is a welcoming and affirming congregation of diverse Christians who are committed to Jesus' command to love and care for our neighbors, whoever they may be. You'll find posts on this blog by our Rector, and also by our parishioners. During the season of Lent, there will be daily meditations on the readings. At other seasons of the year, there will be sporadic postings. Thanks for reading!

Friday, April 3, 2020

Friday, April 03, 2020

Old Testament: Jeremiah 20:7–13
Gospel: John 10:31–42
Psalm 18:1–7

The gospel for today delves straight into the fire of what it means to inhabit (and be inhabited by) God. Jesus tells the men with stones to “believe the works” even if they cannot believe in their divinity. He is making a case for wonder and awe as a vehicle into faith. 
For how can we believe miracles without being enticed by the miraculous? How can we speak of Christ without tumbling into poetry?

Undevastated Sanctus
with Simone Weil

Because winter arrives. 
Advent’s parched undertow
humbles herself, mid-throat. 
Table set for a fist of white iris. 
If liberty is this ability 
to choose, I lack formal instruction. 
Hobbled by swollen tonsils, I watch 
the season’s intimate malefice reorder the room. 
Ignore the song for the sight 
of mother wren assembling a nest 
without socialization: 
I don’t know how we know. 
Or whether. 
Success: too frail 
a construct for the weight of life 
breaking open. 
A beak’s silence shawls me. 
We stake so much on what 
seems natural.
And who can believe
a black bear gives birth 
to live cubs without 
waking from sleep?

Alina Stefanescu Coryell

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