Persis 🙏🕊️📚🧶
LightNews LightNews
banner
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
Persis 🙏🕊️📚🧶
@thecuriousreader.bsky.social
520 followers 350 following 800 posts
Book lover, tea drinker, question asker
Posts Replies Media Videos
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“How we treat others is in some important sense how we treat God; God's honor and ours are inextricably intertwined. The ethical is theological.”

Judaism Is About Love, Shai Held, pg. 167.
THE ETHICAL IS THEOLOGICAL Needless to say, all of this dramatically raises the stakes of the interpersonal realm. How we treat others is in some important sense how. we treat God; God's honor and ours are inextricably intertwined. The ethical is theological.
January 2, 2026 at 11:53 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“The Bible's vision of an ideal ruler is one who defends and protects his most vulnerable subjects. In Genesis 1, humanity as a whole is assigned that role. Since we are all kings and queens, we are all summoned to safeguard the exposed and the defenseless.”
Judaism Is About Love, Shai Held, pg. 159
The Bible's vision of an ideal ruler is one who defends and protects his most vulnerable subjects. In Genesis 1, humanity as, a whole is assigned that role. " Since we are all kings and queens, we are all summoned to safeguard the exposed and the defenseless. Accordingly, being appointed to rule over creation is decidedly not the same thing as being given carte blanche to do as we will with the natural world: as God's vice-regents on earth, human beings are "expected to care for the earth and its creatures. Such is the responsibility of royalty." The fact that all human beings are created in God's image thus represents a democratization of moral responsibility. More radically, Genesis 1 insists that the poor and vulnerable are themselves royalty
January 2, 2026 at 1:10 AM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
This is Big Bun.

He’s gone on to his reward after a good long life. He was surrendered twice at the SPCA before we adopted him. I don’t know why because he was the sweetest bunny.
Picture of gray bunny with white markings around his eyes, nostrils, and under the chin. He’s in a loaf pose with his head resting on a red rug.
December 31, 2025 at 5:40 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“The prophets count on us to be appalled by injustice.”
Judaism Is About Love, Shai Held, pg. 71.
Nathan is unafraid to speak the truth and protest injustice, no mate ter how powerful the culprit. But for our purposes, it's essential that we notice something else: the prophet counts on the fact that David will be incensed when he hears of such a travesty of justice. Given the gravity of what the rich man has done, the king's sense of indignation is entirely appropriate, even commendable. The prophets count on us to be appalled by injustice. When we see people suffering from mistreatment, we ought to feel, anger toward the sources of their suffering; to confront injustice and oppression and not to get angry is a moral failure. "An individual absent of all moral anger and indignation must be indifferent to the existence of moral evil, must be absent of all moral sensitivity." Anger, then, is a sign of being morally sensate.
December 28, 2025 at 11:15 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
New books from me to me. 🙂

Reading the Bible on Turtle Island - T. Christopher Hoklotubbe & H. Daniel Zacharias
Judaism Is About Love - Shai Held
Dim Sum and Faith - Jenn Suen Chen

#readwidely
#readtolearn
Pictures of books mentioned in the post: Reading the Bible on Turtle Island Judaism Is About Love Dim Sum and Faith
December 26, 2025 at 4:11 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“God of newness, turn us from despair, anger, brutality, greed, and fear. Bring healing to our families and communities. Bring healing to our own hearts that we may hold fast to the hope that the world is about to turn. Amen.”
Celebrating Abundance, Walter Brueggemann, pg. 59.
Everybody knows the world is at an edge. Everybody knows about the violence and abuse and exploitation. Everybody knows the world in our very moment is sick to death. But we are the ones who know he will come, called Elijah, called John, called Advent, called newness, a massive change. Because we believe that quite specifically, we celebrate Advent, which is the sense of being at the edge of newness. We are the only ones who believe that. Ancient Greeks did not believe it. And contemporary cynics do not believe it. That is what makes so many of us so resigned, so filled with despair, so selfish, so greedy, so anxious... because the world is hopeless. But we are not hopeless. We are at the break of God's future. The Lord will come in power and in grace, to turn the hearts of the children and to turn the hearts of the parents, to turn us from despair and anger and brutality and greed and fear. We celebrate because we expect and await the turn. God of newness, turn us from despair, anger, brutality, greed, and fear. Bring healing to our families and communities. Bring bealing to our own hearts that we may hold fast to the hope that the world is about to turn. Amen.
December 25, 2025 at 2:51 AM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“Except God has made a fresh decision, and this new one does not come as threat but as child. He does not come as victory but as helpless child. He does not come in pride but in a way almost unnoticed by the world. But he is king.”
Celebrating Abundance, Walter Brueggemann, pg. 55.
All the kings of the world hustled to keep their thrones. They are panic-stricken powers, scared of everything and everyone, but they don't know how to work at it except to kill and destroy, and our whole human history is like that. Except God has made a fresh decision, and this new one does not come as threat but as child. He does not come as victory but as helpless child. He does not come in pride but in a way almost unnoticed by the world. But he is king. He is not robed in splendor but in baby clothes. He is not in the royal nursery but in a barn. None of it makes any sense. At least it does not make sense to people who think they have all of life reduced to a pattern and a formula. The Christmas event in Bethlehem makes no sense unless you allow that it is a fresh decision from God himself about the new shape of the world. All of that came with the new announcement of the king. And then that messenger was joined by the chorus of angels who gave the theme of the divine decision: glory and peace.
December 23, 2025 at 1:37 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
Christmas present from a coworker. She knows me well.
Picture of white mug with green lettering and blue handle with the words: Overthinkers Club churning since forever
December 22, 2025 at 3:10 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“I believe that the roots of both our paralysis and our misdirected anger lie in our own pain that has never been adequately processed. Religious people have a very hard time dealing with pain.”
Abraham’s Silence, J. Richard Middleton, pg. 18
The suffering of the world is multifaceted, and it is massive. Tragic as this massive suffering is, the tragedy is compounded by our parleysis, often alternating with anger directed at those we perceive as our enemies. Despite God's call on our lives to respond in compassion to the pain of others, we find, if we are honest, that we lack the energy for this mission. We are too spent just coping with the ordinary crises of life to give much of ourselves to the needs of others. So we pull back self-protectively into a defensive posture, avoiding even eye contact with the street person, unable to bear such exposure to the world's wounds. Or we circle the wagons of our tribe and vehemently denounce anyone who threatens our sense of security and identity. I believe that the roots of both our paralysis and our misdirected anger lie in our own pain that has never been adequately processed. Religious people have a very hard time dealing with pain. We prefer to accentuate the positive. But the positive— praise and celebration-isn't always appropriate. Picture of the book: Abraham’s Silence: The Binding of Isaac, The Suffering of Job, and How To Talk Back to God by J. Richard Middleton. Cover pic is a painting of the angel intervening in Abraham’s intent to sacrifice Isaac.
December 17, 2025 at 7:23 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“take as your Advent work toward Christmas that enterprise: decrease/increase. Decrease what is old and habitual and destructive in your life so that the new life-giving power of Jesus may grow large with you…”
Celebrating Abundance, Walter Brueggemann, pg. 12, 13.
First Thursday of Advent Season of Decrease The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD. —Isaiah 65:25 "He must increase, but I must decrease." -John the Baptist, in John 3:30 If John embodies all that is old and Jesus embodies all that is new, take as your Advent work toward Christmas that enterprise: decrease/increase. Decrease what is old and habitual and destructive in your life so that the new life-giving power of Jesus may grow large with you: Decrease what is greedy, what is frantic consumerism, for the increase of simple, life-giving sharing Decrease what is fearful and defensive, for the increase of life-giving compassion and generosity. Decrease what is fraudulent and pretense, for the increase of life-giving truth-telling in your life, truth-telling about you and your neighbor, about the sickness of our society and our enmeshment in that sickness. Decrease what is hateful and alienating, for the increase of healing and forgiveness, which finally are the only source of life.
December 5, 2025 at 3:31 AM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“All of the empirical (and imperial!) evidence was against him! But Isaiah's prophetic imagination is not constrained by such evidence because Isaiah's God is not limited by any empire…”
Brian J. Walsh
The Advent of Justice, pg. 14.
Swords or ploughshares? Isaiah 2.1-11 Luke 20.20-26 They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Isaiah 2.4 There was absolutely nothing in his present reality to give him any indication that such a peaceful kingdom could ever be a reality. All of the empirical (and imperial!) evidence was against him! But Isaiah's prophetic imagination is not constrained by such evidence because Isaiah's God is not limited by any empire; in fact, this God uses such empires to do his bidding. Now notice the content of the vision. Swords will be beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks. Precisely those tools which we use to try to manufacture and protect our own security, peace and prosperity-the tools of war and aggression-are transformed, in this vision, into implements of cultivation. Rather than destroying life in a desperate attempt to secure it, Isaiah's vision calls us to foster life, to open life up to new possibilities, and to be involved in cultivating creation in such a way that a just prosperity will flourish.
December 4, 2025 at 4:11 AM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“God does not respect whatever petty justifications we give for the narrowness of our hearts.”
The blasphemy of national Christianity, Mac Loftin, The Christian Century, December 2025.
This is the essence of national Christianity. One might expect Christian nationalists to insist that the values of the nation be subordinated to Christian values, but what they really want is for Christian values to be subordinated to the nation. Christians from different national communities are fundamentally unlike each other, the argument goes, so one's values and interests as a Christian must be subordinated to the particular values and interests of the nation. In national Christianity, nationality is like a mold into which Christianity is poured. Being an American Christian means having my Christianness conditioned by a more fundamental Americanness. This is blasphemy and must be torn out root and branch. The categories of nation, race, and gender that we use to dominate and exclude are contingent; these lines have been drawn differently (or not at all) in the past, and they can be drawn differently (or not at all) today. God does not respect whatever petty justifications we give for the narrowness of our hearts. To be baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus is to be liberated from the imprisoning fiction that another person is fundamentally unlike me and hence lies outside my sphere of concern.
December 1, 2025 at 6:46 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
A prayer for the first Sunday in Advent:

“Living God, visit us in this season with your Holy Spirit that we may get carried away to do obedient things we have not yet done, kingdom things we did not think we had in us...”

Celebrating Abundance: Devotions for Advent, Walter Brueggemann, pg. 5.
What we know, that Herod didn't know and never even suspected, is that John's Advent invitation cannot be silenced or arrested. It continues to invite. And sometimes we let it come among us and transform us. Living God, visit us in this season with your Holy Spirit that we may get carried away to do obedient things we have not yet done, kingdom things we did not think we had in us, neighbor things from which we cringe. May you act in us, through us, beyond us, more than we imagine, because newness is on its way among us. Amen. Picture of book: Celebrating Abundance: Devotions for Advent by Walter Brueggemann. Cover is a picture of a little church on the edge of a snowy field surrounded by snow covered conifers with either the sun setting or rising.
November 30, 2025 at 10:57 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
Stained glass leaves
The sun shining through a canopy of green and gold crepe myrtle and deep red oak leaves.
November 29, 2025 at 6:18 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
New project: Among the Shadows Cowl with Madeline Tosh Unwind DK in Accra Evening colorway. The yarn is dyed in a tape so you frog and then knit. I don’t think I would use this yarn for anything more complicated than basic stitches because of the crimping.
🧶

www.ravelry.com/patterns/lib...
Picture of the beginnings of a knit cowl resting on printed instructions. The yarn is a coiled tape with bands of deeper blue and cream with pink and gold speckles on the cream sections. At the upper left is a black mug with the words “WHAT ARE YOU READING NOW?” from the NY Public Library.
November 24, 2025 at 4:02 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“Do not let yourself be deceived by those who under the banner of truth tear down reality”
For Such a Time As This: An Emergency Devotional, Hanna Reichel, pg. 24.
You will have to distinguish all the things: God from idols, faith from ideology, violence from true power, the quiet of fear from true peace, noise from threat. The differences are clear for those who keep their eyes on the cross. Do not let yourself be deceived by those who under the banner of truth tear down reality: The fruits of the Spirit are "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faith-fulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Gal. 5:22-23). Do not let yourself be deceived by lip service to truth, by committees, by statements, by promises. Sometimes they avoid reality, sometimes they try to hide it. Put them to the test.
November 21, 2025 at 2:55 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
Vibrant fall colors.
Closeup of a viola with 4 blooms. The top petals are deep burgundy and the bottom petals are orange with burgundy streaks. Closeup of a viola with bright yellow petals with a dark burgundy “eye.”
November 8, 2025 at 7:17 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“Empire is fundamentally about the extension of control, whether through direct domination or subtle influence. And in that expansion, something essential is always sacrificed.”
Liturgies for Resisting Empire, Kat Armas, pgs. 16, 18
Empire is fundamentally about the extension of control, whether through direct domination or subtle influence. And in that expansion, something essential is always sacrificed. Throughout history, empire has been skilled at selling us the narratives it wants us to believe — offering a false sense of security or salvation but we are not bound to accept them. We have the power to break free and find new ways of being and belonging. The question we must ask is, how do we untangle ourselves from these narratives? And when we do, what kind of freedom awaits us?
November 3, 2025 at 6:45 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
Bright ginkgo in full sun.
Picture looking up toward the middle of a ginkgo tree in full sun. The leaves are bright chartreuse.
November 1, 2025 at 4:31 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“Moses spoke more about the most vulnerable of the neighbors who receive attentive consideration and protection by the Lord of the covenant...”
Sabbath as Resistance, Walter Brueggemann, pg. 26.
It was not so in Egypt. There were no neighbors in that system, only threats and competitors. In his continued interpretation of the commands, Moses spoke more about the most vulnerable of the neighbors who receive attentive consideration and protection by the Lord of the covenant: You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans. (22:21-24) If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. If you take your neighbor's cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor's only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate. (vv. 25-27) You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. (23:9) These folk are put at the center of Sinai imagination, even though they are nowhere in the horizon of the Egyptian system. (And written in by hand “or the American system.)
October 28, 2025 at 2:23 AM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“If there is to be a life beyond totalitarianism, we must cultivate a life outside its grasp, even as we live within it.”
For Such A Time As This: An Emergency Devotional, Hanna Reichel, pg. 13
But Barth understood something that might be worth remembering today: Totalitarianism is about total control. It wants to control not just the public but also the private spaces. Not just politics and economics and education and religion, but also your thoughts and feelings. It does not need your love; your fear is enough. Keeping your focus, feelings, and thoughts your own is hard. But it is itself an act of resistance. Be strategic with your attention. If there is to be a life beyond totalitarianism, we must cultivate a life outside its grasp, even as we live within it.
October 25, 2025 at 3:01 AM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“Resolving all tensions is a hallmark of ideology. Easy answers and clear-cut solutions are what authoritarianism offers. Part of the task upon us today is to resist these lures.”
For Such A Time As This, Hanna Reichel, pg. xiii.
There are no unequivocal beliefs, incontestable conclusions, or cure-all recipes. I am not asking you to agree with what I say and go apply it. I am inviting you to reflect and ponder, put into perspective and complement. Resolving all tensions is a hallmark of ideology. Easy answers and clear-cut solutions are what authoritarianism offers. Part of the task upon us today is to resist these lures. We must build up tolerance for complexity. We must train our capacity to hold things in tension. We must exercise our communal ability for nuance and contestation. Everywhere, discernment will be needed. Only so can we do justice to reality and to one another. Cover of “For Such A Time As This: An Emergency Devotional” by Hanna Reichel
October 24, 2025 at 6:25 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“We will not be saved by our money, our weapons, or our technological virtuosity; we might be rescued by the joyful and unprofitable pursuits of love, beauty, and contemplation.”
The Enchantments of Mammon, Eugene McCarraher, pg. 18.
We will not be saved by our money, our weapons, or our technological virtuosity; we might be rescued by the joyful and unprofitable pursuits of love, beauty, and contemplation. No doubt this will all seem foolish to the shamans and magicians of pecuniary enchantment. But there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley.
October 23, 2025 at 12:46 AM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
“his person is the type of indestructible life that does not require a sacrifice of any sort to obtain access through the veil to the direct presence of God”
Lamb of the Free, @andrewrillera.bsky.social , pg. 233.

#deconstruction
#rethinkallthethings
This means Jesus isn't so much a high priest and an atoning sacrificial victim so much as that his person is the type of indestructible life that does not require a sacrifice of any sort to obtain access through the veil to the direct presence of God (7:16, 27; 6:19-20; 9:12, 25-26)! Hebrews 10:5-9 seems to intentionally frame Jesus's sacrificial function as not being like a sacrificial victim, but rather just being the sort of human whose perfect obedience makes it so that he just is the kind of life and body that is fit to be in the holy of holies. This is what makes his life-blood more potent than anything else.
October 22, 2025 at 5:46 PM
thecuriousreader.bsky.social
Planting violas on a gorgeous autumn day.
Picture looking down in a dark blue flower pot newly planted with 4 viola plants (small pansies) with purple and purple/white flowers.
October 17, 2025 at 6:49 PM