Leviticus 6 – If you sin against an associate or cheat or commit fraud or hold lost property instead of returning it to its owner. If you lie under oath or commit any act of dishonesty, you must give back what you owe or withheld and add to it a penalty of 20% of its value (6:6:1-5).

Then you must also give a “guilt offering” of a ram.

With respect to the daily holocaust or “burnt offering,” it “must be left on top of the altar” all night and the…

Last night they captured the second suspect named in the Boston Marathon bombings.



I was in a waiting room at a public facility, along with several other people, when the news flashed across the display.  Images of a flapping torn boat cover, flashing lights, talk of a blood trail, video of law enforcement vehicles slowly ebbing from the area, the relief on residents' faces -- all kept us riveted to the screen for the next fifteen or twenty minutes.



As the report…

Leviticus 5 – A number of sins that might be “inadvertent” are listed in this section:

“If you are called to testify about something you have seen or that you know about, it is sinful to refuse to testify and you will be punished for your sin” (5:1)

Or if you “unknowingly touch something that is ceremonially unclean” (5:2), or “unknowingly touch something that makes a person unclean” (5:3), or “make a foolish vow”…

Quotidian.  I read that word in an essay I critiqued during my first semester in my MFA in writing program. I had to look it up.  Ironically, it’s a fancy word for something that’s not, well, very fancy.  Here’s how the New Oxford American Dictionary defines it:

quotidian |kwōˈtidēən|

adjective [ attrib. ]

• of or occurring every day; daily : the car sped noisily off through the quotidian…

At a Young Adult Friend gathering last night, I listened for some time to the lengthy concerns of a Friend. I was not expecting such an aggressive and passionate display, else I might have thought twice about sharing what I did. Her energetic concerns were prompted by what I thought was be a fairly harmless announcement on my part. It regarded a…

Leviticus 4 – Sin offerings [“hattat”] Schocken Bible note says “sin offering” is not a good translation.  It is a “decontamination offering” for priests – for inadvertent sins. 

When these are committed by the high priest, he brings guilt on all the people.  He must offer a young, unblemished bull.  Its blood should be brought into the tent and sprinkled toward the sanctuary seven times.  Some of the blood should go on the horns of the altar of incense. …

I was reading the other day the book 'Keeping Silence' by C. W. McPherson who is an Episcopal priest and spiritual director.  McPherson found himself guiding people in their spiritual practice.  One of the most difficult practices, he found, was for people to be silent:

"If I ever thought that keeping silence was easy, my congregation taught me otherwise.  From time to time as a parish priest, I recommended they try spiritual pracices, such as memorizing a psalm or reading…

Introduction to Leviticus:

Leviticus stands at the center of the five books Torah; and it all takes place at Sinai, so while there is much modern people find difficult about the book, we must admit that its place in Judaism must be central.  Schocken editors see Leviticus as the “Book of Separations, the book in which are set forth distinctions between a whole range of aspects of ancient Israelite experience and practice: holy and profane;…

The following is drawn from a message delivered at First Friends in Richmond, Indiana on April 14, 2013 by Jeff Wolfe:

The pastorate might seem like an odd profession for a person with a healthy degree of doubt, yet in wrestling…

Exodus 39 – The vestments made and the work presented to Moses for his blessing are here described. The colors of everything are specified including even the color of the thread to be used (gold).

The names of the twelve tribes are engraved on a dark reddish gem mounted into gold. All the various garments  are described in great detail and all are decorated with gems and gold. “The Israelites did all the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Moses…

Exodus 37 – The ark or “covenant box” is to be made out of acacia wood and the dimensions are to be 45” by 27” by 27.”

It is to be covered with gold inside and out and carried with poles of gold-covered acacia wood that are slipped through rings along the sides of the box. The top of the case is covered with a lid with hammered golden winged creatures facing each other and protecting the contents.

The table for the offered bread is made with similar precision and then the…

How easy to say, "I'll pray for you" or "God helps those who help themselves" or even "It must have been God's will" rather than to respond, "I will hold thee in the Light." In fact, most prayer would limit God's will to our own; just as most human endeavor would foreclose or bypass God's will. Even Jesus, before his execution, would have limited and looked for a way to bypass the Will other than his own. No wonder he asked his disciples to respond to his request to stay awake(keep in the…

The story of the rich young man is found in all three of the earliest Gospels. The event must have made a great impression upon those who witnessed the life and ministry of Jesus. Indeed, it challenges us into the present day. Money represents power, authority, and success in this culture. Because of this, it is often difficult for wealthy people to…

ESR student Suzanne Cole delivered the following message in Earlham School of Religion Worship on Thursday, April 4, 2013:

Out of a jumble and tangle of wild planting, it sounds very possible to acquire volunteer vegetables, doesn’t it? They sound like vegetables that…

Exodus 34 - The Lord tells Moses to bring Him two new stones on which to re-write the “words” He gave him.  Moses climbs the mountain again alone, and the Lord passes before him, crying out, “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children and grandchildren to the third…

Exodus 33 – The Lord promises to send the people into the land He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and He will send His angel before them.  But He says He will not accompany them Himself because they “are a stiff-necked people; [and He] might exterminate [them] on the way” (33:4). In repentance, the Israelites lay aside their ornaments (33:6).

The Meeting Tent or “Tent of the Lord’s Presence,” is pitched outside of camp “at some distance.” When Moses entered the…

Exodus 32 – Moses takes a long time conferring with God on the mountain (40 days), and the people become restless and anxious.  Throughout the wilderness journey, they express the same anxieties. 

Back on earth, down the mountain, life is full of human frailty. So the people go to Aaron and ask him to “make us a god who will be our leader” (32:1). One of the commandments – the FIRST one by the Catholic count, is specifically NOT to make any such representation. …

Exodus 31 – Artisans are chosen to make everything, artisans “filled . . . with a divine spirit—or breath--of skill and understanding and knowledge in [their] craft[s]” (31:3).  And then they are admonished to keep the Sabbath sacred “as a token” of the covenant between God and his people. Schocken’s translation “for in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day he ceased and paused-for-breath” (31:17) is good, especially when we remember breath and…

Exodus 30 – The incense altar (not previously mentioned—possibly an addition) is 18” long and 18” wide and 36” high (using the Today’s English Version so as to get away from cubits). It has “projections,” rings and poles to make it moveable.  And it is placed “outside the curtain which hangs in front of the Covenant Box” (30:6).

There shall be incense burned morning and evening for all time to come.  No holocausts or cereal offerings or libations shall be made…