by jakeowensby | Sep 8, 2023 | Forgiveness, Matthew 18:21-35
J- remembers bits and pieces of that day. Just a toddler, he recalls playing on the floor with his mother, T-. She had bought some cheap plastic dinosaurs for him at the dime store (or the Dollar Store in today’s language), and she looked on as he marched them around...
by jakeowensby | Aug 25, 2023 | Holocaust, Matthew 16:21-28
When people first learn that my mother survived the Holocaust, they frequently ask me if she was Jewish.[1] It’s understandable. The Nazi Final Solution targeted Jews. Six million of them died in the camps. It comes as a surprise to them when I explain that my mother...
by jakeowensby | Aug 11, 2023 | Matthew 15:21-28, Proper 15 A
When my daughter was diagnosed with autism, I had a few choice words for God. On a long evening walk under the stars, I railed at the unfairness of it all. At God’s unfairness. “Honestly, the kid’s barely out of preschool and she’s already undergone open heart...
by jakeowensby | Jun 9, 2023 | Matthew 9:35-10:8, Proper 6 A
At the height of the Second World War, French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil (1909-1943) urged the Allies to provide planes so that squads of white-clad nurses could parachute onto the battlefield. The nurses would give medical aid and emotional comfort to the...
by jakeowensby | Jun 2, 2023 | Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
For almost twenty-two years I spoke with a profound speech impediment. Born without a soft palate, I lacked the physical equipment needed to make a proper “s” sound. Everything I said had a nasal quality, and the “s” was entirely unrecognizable. When you’re talking,...
