Virtual Methodist

I've posted this monologue a couple of times before. It purports to give Herod Antipas' take on the story in this coming Sunday's Gospel reading from the Lectionary ( Mark 6: 14-29 ). Wrote it twelve years ago now, as per the lectionary cycle, but I have only ever used it once, and won't be using it this week (I've done a couple of monologues in a row recently and you can have too much of a "good" thing... However, I thought I would post it a few days ahead of time incase any colleagues are at a loss for something for Sunday... Would be interested to hear if anyone was brave enough to attempt it... (ps. Saw the accompanying picture "The Beheading of John the Baptist" by Caravaggio in St. John's Cathedral in Valetta. Malta a couple of years ago, and this doesn't do it any justice.) Why!? Why could the damned dipper not keep his nose out of my personal life? And why could Herodias not simply ignore him? What harm could he do once I’d locked...

A reblogged monologue by Herod Antipas inspired by today's Gospel reading from the Lectionary in  Mark 6: 14-29 . Wrote it three years ago as per the lectionary cycle, but didn't use it until this morning... If I was being generous to fellow preachers out there I should have re-posted it a few days ago... But I didn't want to spoil the effect for the few members of my own congregation that occasionally stumble onto this blog. Why!? Why could the damned dipper not keep his nose out of my personal life? And why could Herodias not simply ignore him? What harm could he do once I’d locked him away? Yes, he went on and on about the immorality of our relationship, but what did she expect? He’s a religious fanatic… But if he is one of God’s prophets I don’t want his blood on my hands as well as my marital sins… But she didn’t care… She wanted his head on a plate… Literally. And she knew just how to get it… The same way she got me in the first place… I’ve always been a ...

A monologue by Herod Antipas inspired by today's Gospel reading from the Lectionary in Mark 6: 14-29 . Why!? Why could the damned dipper not keep his nose out of my personal life? And why could Herodias not simply ignore him? What harm could he do once I’d locked him away? Yes, he went on and on about the immorality of our relationship, but what did she expect? He’s a religious fanatic… But if he is one of God’s prophets I don’t want his blood on my hands as well as my marital sins… But she didn’t care… She wanted his head on a plate… Literally. And she knew just how to get it… The same way she got me in the first place… I’ve always been a sucker for a bit of fine young female flesh… I’d taken her even though she was both my own niece and my brother’s wife… Keep it in the family is my motto… But she then dangled her own daughter as bait to get what she wanted… Just one dance and I was slavering at the mouth… I offered her half my Kingdom… and I would have given it to her too (the d...