now accepting applications...

So as some of you know, I'm preaching at my home parish on March 6. In other words, I'm now soliciting reflections on the following passages:

1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:1-14
John 9: 1-41 (despite the fact that the Episcopal lectionary cuts it off at v. 38)

There's a lot about seeing and darkness and light in there to start with, but I think I'm going to look at the common thread of fear throughout. Maybe. Right now I'm playing with how that works into the relationship between the blind man and everyone else except Jesus, and who the blind man is in our world, and how (at least for this congregation) it just might not be us... I'm preaching to an incredibly educated, wealthy, privileged, powerful group of people, who like to identify with the healed in healing stories, and while I think that's often good, I also think that parish lets itself off the hook a lot by focusing on their own individual pain and healing, so I'd like to invite them to move beyond that as well. I'd also like to bring in some of the darkness and light imagery, even if Julia thinks it's too platonistic.

Beyond that, I don't have much, but we'll look at the Greek on Friday and then I've got another week after that to get it well and truly ready. I'd like to have a manuscript for the longer version done before my retreat with the COM March 4-5, so then I can just review notes and tweak things Saturday night.