Peter cutting off someone’s ear is in all four of the gospels. They call him “Malchus.” It was part of the tradition that all four groups (represented by the four texts) found significant. Peter’s so pissed off that he lashes out at the lowest man on the totem pole, a slave. Peter’s so pissed off […]
Read More Ears to You, MalchusAs the lesson said, “mustard seed,” I thought there must be smaller things than that, things so small that is the size of the faith that I have, like, perhaps a speck of dust. Last night I was taking the train home and suddenly realized that I had no money, and would never have any […]
Read More Very Small ThingsMaybe you did not go to church because God lets crazy people shoot fifty strangers. I have not been going because God has ruined my life in other ways. I walked into a church, a church where no one knew me, so maybe I would feel different, and an usher told me not to […]
Read More WindThe woman was pleased that I was buying an umbrella. I had just splashed through Rockefeller Center, in three inches of rain, this made me laugh. Nothing was making me laugh at all, only actually wading in my sandals, running between the buildings there. “Once we sold almost every umbrella we had, to this whole […]
Read More Get and Take
Going On 