Musings from the High Desert

Musings from the High Desert


Latest Episodes

A Look at “Unequally Yoked”
October 04, 2020

This is a difficult message on several levels. Paul here is not talking about marriage between Jews and Christians, but rather about marriage between those who are involved in other religions. We have to remember the context: Corinth, which was full of al

Learning from the Fishermen
September 28, 2020

Sometimes you hear passages from the Gospels and they roll past you. Usually we just hear that Christ called fishermen to his disciple band and don't think more about it. But what about fishing on Lake Gennesaret; what can we learn from this? Let's look a

Wounded Healers
September 27, 2020

It is always important to check the precise words St Paul uses in his addresses. In 2 Cor. 6:1-11, he appeals to his experience and that of the other Apostles and accompanists, and then he appeals to his and their behavior as a way to encourage the Corint

To See the Face of Another Person Is To See the Face of Christ
September 21, 2020

The Shema is central to Judaism to this day; in this passage Jesus puts the love worship of the one God together with the love of humanity and, for that matter, all of creation. This is the yoke that he lays upon us; this is the heritage we bear from our

Faith and Works Go Together
September 20, 2020

It's very important to recognize the background to the Letter to the Galatians. St Paul wants them to understand that legalism is not the answer to how one becomes Christian, a reminder from his previous teaching. Listen in.

All the promises of God find their “Yes” in Christ
September 14, 2020

St. Paul to the Corinthians a second time: All the promises of God find their "Yes" in Christ. Fr Gabriel explores this opening salvo from St. Paul, what it means given his background, and explores with particular interest the notes about being sealed in

The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers
September 07, 2020

The so-called parable of the Wicked Vinedressers comes up each year in our lectionary and frequently we register its meaning, along allegorical lines. We're all familiar with that interpretation: the Owner is God, the Vineyard is Israel, and so forth. But

How to Live out Our Christian Faith in the Culture We Inhabit
September 06, 2020

Etymology is not theology, of course, but in some cases it really helps to sharpen our understanding of what is required of us, particularly with regard to behavior. In these two short verses from St. Paul, we receive a good deal of counsel on how to live

The Wrong Question
August 31, 2020

This passage has a twist in it which we may not often recognize: the question the young man asks is the wrong question. As a responsible and faithful member of the covenant people he would or should have known that eternal life is the promise of God for h

St. Paul on the Resurrection
August 29, 2020

This is St Paul's great chapter on the resurrection, but what we need to notice at the outset is that he is not claiming to make any of this up, but that it rests on the firm foundation of a tradition which he has passed on without addition, without subtr