Greenblade - creation - faith - justice

The Sixth Day

And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.’ And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ 
So God created humankind in his image,
 in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and ... MORE

Joining Heaven and Earth

I began my writing life as a medievalist when I came to Cornell to do graduate work in the history of art. The Middle Ages had been a passion of mine for years and as I had a healthy intellectual curiosity I chose an academic path. I benefited from taking that path in many ways and do not regret it but I could not fail to notice how rarely the ‘book learning’ touched the passion. What I loved – and wanted more of – was the sensation of walking through a heavy, padded door from the sights, smells and sounds of the street and into the quiet, mysteriously-lighted space of a medieval church. I wanted the flickering of candles against a painted Madonna and Child, the feel of stone that has been cool for hundreds of years. These sensations became pathways for me, doorways between heaven and earth.
 
This came to mind as I was reading Craig’s ... MORE

Quick, now

I’ve been writing a lot about Greenblade recently for various grant proposals and I find myself putting an emphasis on the post-communion prayer that includes this line, which is buried in that lilting “prayer book language” we all love to love:

 … send us out 
to do the work you have given us to do …

That line always jumps out at me – and stays out because what I hear and the prayer it is embedded in are not exactly the same.

The prayer says, “Almighty and everliving God,
 we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food 
of the most precious Body and Blood 
of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; 
and for assuring us in these holy mysteries 
that we are living members of the Body of your Son, 
and heirs of your eternal kingdom.”

What I hear is, “We have just eaten physical food at your table – a bite, a sip ... MORE