by David Wahlstedt | Aug 8, 2021 | Uncategorized
We, at The Table, empty a narrative historical approach to Scripture born out of the ancient Hebrew tradition of Midrash. The Ancient Rabbis read the sacred text as questions and then answer the questions with questions that suggest answers with stories of...
by David Wahlstedt | Jun 28, 2021 | Uncategorized
Temptation has a bad reputation. We are told to avoid it, guard against it and to pray not to be led into it. Yet we read in Matthew 4:1 that after Jesus is baptized, he is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. There we find him...
by David Wahlstedt | Apr 12, 2021 | Uncategorized
Rest. Sabbath. Two words describing a concept I’ve struggled with all my life. My mind is always in motion. I notice the stack of books in my reading queue yet to be read. I see the ceiling damaged from a leaky pipe that needs to be repaired. I can see the...
by David Wahlstedt | Mar 13, 2021 | Uncategorized
Saturday must have been a long and dark day. Not only did they hide in fear of their lives, but even worse, they grieved deeply. Jesus was gone. His disciples had watched the soldiers carry him off to his execution the day before. Now it was Saturday, their...
by David Wahlstedt | Mar 10, 2021 | Uncategorized
The resurrection account in Mark’s gospel begins in the usual fashion: it’s dark on Sunday morning, women come to the tomb with baskets filled with spices to tend the body of Jesus, they are surprised upon arrival to see the stone has been rolled away, an angel...
by David Wahlstedt | Mar 1, 2021 | Uncategorized
It’s been said that motion is the great American virtue, and waiting is the ultimate un-American act. If you doubt it, consider how you deal with checkout lines. Well, consider me as I checkout the checkout lines in my most recent trip to Uganda. I found myself...
by David Wahlstedt | Feb 28, 2021 | Uncategorized
One of God’s most effective transformation tools is a season of waiting. In fact, it seems that God delights in imposing a time of waiting as preparation for those He intends to use. Joseph sat in a dark prison cell for ten years before being called out to...
by David Wahlstedt | Feb 17, 2021 | Uncategorized
This morning’s Lenten devotional was a familiar story: Jesus quiets a storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat with his disciples. What makes this story so remarkable is that Jesus exercises his dominion over the forces of nature, even when the...
by David Wahlstedt | Jan 28, 2021 | Uncategorized
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.” When King Herod...
by David Wahlstedt | Jan 19, 2021 | Uncategorized
On my most recent trip to Africa, I ask one of my Ugandan friends why he never got angry at all the crazy taxi and boda boda drivers who are constantly cutting in front of us and hugging us out of our place. His response was simple: What will this change?” A...
