Nonaligned faith and practice in the present
10Afterward, when he was alone, his followers and the Twelve asked him about his parables, 11and he said, “To you the secret of the realm of God has been imparted; but to those who are outside everything takes the form of parables so that 12‘though they have eyes, they may see without perceiving; and though they have ears, they may hear without understanding; some day they might turn and be forgiven.'”
– Mark
…Part I: The parable of the weeds in the field
Part II: Religion or belief
Part III: Wilderness and cultivation
Wilderness and cultivation
“Religion in its purest form is a vast work of poetry.” (Carse, 111)
The first draft of “Weeds” was one long post. It began with my reaction to Matthew’s version of the weeds in the field parable, proceeded immediately with those insights from James Carse which now comprise the second half
…Part I: The parable of the weeds in the field
Part II: Religion or belief
Part III: Wilderness and cultivation
Religion or belief
In Part I, I laid out a problem—really a faith challenge—presented to me by the parable of the weeds in the wheat field, as told and interpreted in the book of Matthew (13:24-30, 36-43). The significance of this parable for me is that it sets up an
…Part I: The parable of the weeds in the field
Part II: Religion or belief
Part III: Wilderness and cultivation
The parable of the weeds in the field
In a July post on Walhydra’s Porch, I built a story around the troublesome contrast between a new Lutheran pastor’s doctrinally correct sermon and the palpable, all-inclusive embrace of an image of Jesus which spreads its arms over the sanctuary where the sermon
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