A Great Confusion
Feb 22, 2021 | By Sharla Moody BK ‘22
Pictured: Ocean waves crashing against rocks.
Lord, ask me not to walk atop the seas,
and give me not knowledge of all languages.
Do not speak to me with dew or marvelous wines,
and I plead that you not invite me to a banquet
where many wonders will be done––
for Lord, I can scarce understand my own wickedness
and how much greater Your love must be
to beckon even a criminal like me.
For Lord, if You ask a great act of faith from me,
surely I will be unable to deliver; surely I cannot
enter the wilderness for forty days, or forty years.
For surely in snares and temptations will I be caught,
surely I am too fickle to return the faith You have given.
For Lord, if it were me who had to walk on waters,
me who healed the sick and me who raised the dead,
me who was tempted and offered wealth o’er slaughter—
if all the world were at risk, I would choose myself instead.
Yet You have allow’d me to live so far unnumbered days,
God of the universe, giving me miracles numerous.
This piece is a part of a syndicated series in collaboration with Duke Crux for Lent 2021. Read more at https://dukecrux.org/lent-2021/
March 11, 2022 | By Jonathan Chan
Forty days. That’s the length of time Christ spent in the Judaean Desert, fasting and praying in solitude. In the accounts contained in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the devil appears, bearing temptations that cut to the very heart of Jesus’ desires – to turn stones to bread to relieve His physical hunger, to summon angels to break His fall if He jumps from a cliff, and to worship the tempter in return for dominion over the kingdoms of the world.