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A Summer of Stories
WELCOME TO THE COTTAGE SUMMER VBSVacation Bible School for Grown-ups
Every year at The Cottage, I host a special summer series called “Vacation Bible School” around some subject folks want to explore more deeply.
Typically, the Cottage VBS is for paid subscribers only and runs during July. This year, however, we’re going to do things a little differently.
Read on!
For months, readers have asked me if I’m going to do this summer’s VBS about America 250 and Christian nationalism.
If folks were expecting me — as a historian of American religion — to respond to the misuse of history unleashed by our current Orwellian government, the short answer is “no.”
The longer answer is that I do think what is happening in the United States is horrifying — and the lies about history are emblematic of a larger loss of truth, a loss interwoven with the propagation of stories to support things like white supremacy and the myth of a Christian nation.
I would be remiss ignoring it. A lot of good people and great historians will be addressing these subjects in the coming weeks. We’re all about to enter into a vigorous and angry argument about national identity and the meaning of history. I will be contributing to some of that discussion in other forums — mostly through the Convocation Unscripted podcast and a video series with Tripp Fuller.
But honestly? I’m sick to death of hearing about Christian nationalism. It’s bad. Most of us know it is bad and those who don’t can’t be convinced otherwise. But I don’t need more of it in my face right now.
Given all of that, I’ve felt compelled to speak to it less directly with, perhaps, a needed sort of spiritual subtlety. To quote Emily Dickinson:
Tell all the truth but tell it slant —Success in Circuit liesToo bright for our infirm DelightThe Truth’s superb surpriseAs Lightning to the Children easedWith explanation kindThe Truth must dazzle graduallyOr every man be blind —
It is time to “tell all the truth.” And, when it comes to telling hard truths, few things are quite as “slant” as Jesus’ parables.
The parables are Jesus’ most profoundly subversive anti-imperial stories, often turned into overly sentimental piety and poorly understood. In reality, they are surprising morality tales about how to live a life of compassion, generosity, and gratitude even under the sway of empire.
They are often read during the season of Pentecost, in the summer. And this summer, we’re going to need them even more than usual.
From May 27 (today) until July 8, we’re going to explore THE PARABLES OF PENTECOST through A Beautiful Year.
This series will be OPEN TO ALL COTTAGE SUBSCRIBERS, with some extras for paid subscribers.
HERE’S HOW IT WILL WORK:
There are SIX parables featured in the book on pages 226 - 257. Each week will focus on a different parable, reading them in the order that they appear in the book.
Wednesdays until July 8, OPEN TO ALL COTTAGE READERSEach week, we’ll explore a different parable. You can read each parable in the book. On Wednesday, you’ll receive the recorded essay based on a particular parable from the AUDIOBOOK of A Beautiful Year. You can read and/or listen as you choose.*
Every Wednesday features special prompts related to the featured parable and an open comment thread. I will drop in-and-out of the comment thread on Wednesdays to reply to questions and comments — and encourage you all to do the same.
WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE FOR VBS 2026Readings from A Beautiful Year
May 27: The Parables of Pentecost, an Overview of Ordinary TimeJune 3: The Parable of the Good SamaritanJune 10: The Parable of the Prodigal SonJune 17: The Parable of the Laborers in the VineyardJune 24: The Parable of the Wicked Tenants July 1: The Parable of the Wise and Foolish BridesmaidsJuly 8: The Parable of the Talents
*These chapters cannot be reprinted in whole due to copyright restrictions, but the audiobook selections will be presented in their entirety from the original (with publisher permission and participation!).
If you wish to purchase a copy of A Beautiful Year, check the sellers at the button below for various formats, some at discounted prices.
Fridays May 29 - July 3, FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS ONLYFridays feature a LIVE video gathering with either a special guest or a conversation with just us regarding the week’s parable. (These conversations will be recorded and sent out to paid subscribers afterward.)
➡️➡️ THIS FRIDAY, MAY 29 at 12:00 NOON EASTERN JOHN DOMINIC CROSSAN joins us in a live conversation about Empire, Pentecost, and Parables.(Link will be emailed to paid subscribers on Friday morning, May 29).
Sundays through the Summer, FOR ALL READERSSunday Musings will follow the lectionary as usual. This summer the readings will all be from Matthew. Most will not be related to the Parables series.
THIS WEEK: ORDINARY TIME
The video at the top of this today’s email is from A Beautiful Year, pp. 223-225, “Ordinary Time.”
And, here’s a quote from page 209 to ponder in tandem with today’s reading/video:
Pentecost begins with a day of miracles and the dramatic outpouring of God’s spirit into the world. The season following Pentecost Day is also known as Ordinary Time, and it may be as long as twenty-eight weeks. The overall story is simple: Even the most dazzling miracles must be lived out in the mundane.
Its liturgical color is green, representing the growing season.
The readings for this verdant period include parables and instructions on spiritual practices. Ordinary Time invites mindfulness of the familiar. We learn to see miracles in the quotidian. In these months of growing, the garden requires attention that the harvest may be abundant.
PROMPTS for COMMENTSPick a question and run with it in the Comment section!
* Why emphasize the ORDINARY in these CHAOTIC times? What power does the “ordinary” hold?
* How does one practice “Ordinary Time” while the world is in the midst of extraordinary challenge and change? Is “ordinary” only an escape? What spiritual wisdom resides in the ordinary?
* What role do stories like the parables play in strengthening and deepening our spiritual lives? Why is this form of storytelling been so enduring and compelling? And why would the lectionary include so many parables during the season of Pentecost?
Start the conversation or respond to another’s comment. The only guidelines: Be thoughtful, curious, and kind.
Welcome to the Cottage Summer Series —The Parables of Pentecost, Telling the Truth Slant
Let’s journey together and discover the power of story
🙏 ❤️ Thank you to the paid subscribers whose continued generosity makes it possible for me to open experiences like this to the entire Cottage community.
You make a difference. I’m truly grateful for and to you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting my work and the community here, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
This is the last week for the May Birthday Blowout special — 25% off all NEW annual subscriptions. It’s a great bargain!
When it comes to doing something about what is wrong in the world, Jesus is best known for his fondness for the minute, the invisible, the quiet, the slow – yeast, salt, seeds, light.
And manure.
― Eugene H. Peterson
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dianabutlerbass.substack.com/subscribe
View all episodes
By Diana Butler BassWELCOME TO THE COTTAGE SUMMER VBSVacation Bible School for Grown-ups
Every year at The Cottage, I host a special summer series called “Vacation Bible School” around some subject folks want to explore more deeply.
Typically, the Cottage VBS is for paid subscribers only and runs during July. This year, however, we’re going to do things a little differently.
Read on!
For months, readers have asked me if I’m going to do this summer’s VBS about America 250 and Christian nationalism.
If folks were expecting me — as a historian of American religion — to respond to the misuse of history unleashed by our current Orwellian government, the short answer is “no.”
The longer answer is that I do think what is happening in the United States is horrifying — and the lies about history are emblematic of a larger loss of truth, a loss interwoven with the propagation of stories to support things like white supremacy and the myth of a Christian nation.
I would be remiss ignoring it. A lot of good people and great historians will be addressing these subjects in the coming weeks. We’re all about to enter into a vigorous and angry argument about national identity and the meaning of history. I will be contributing to some of that discussion in other forums — mostly through the Convocation Unscripted podcast and a video series with Tripp Fuller.
But honestly? I’m sick to death of hearing about Christian nationalism. It’s bad. Most of us know it is bad and those who don’t can’t be convinced otherwise. But I don’t need more of it in my face right now.
Given all of that, I’ve felt compelled to speak to it less directly with, perhaps, a needed sort of spiritual subtlety. To quote Emily Dickinson:
Tell all the truth but tell it slant —Success in Circuit liesToo bright for our infirm DelightThe Truth’s superb surpriseAs Lightning to the Children easedWith explanation kindThe Truth must dazzle graduallyOr every man be blind —
It is time to “tell all the truth.” And, when it comes to telling hard truths, few things are quite as “slant” as Jesus’ parables.
The parables are Jesus’ most profoundly subversive anti-imperial stories, often turned into overly sentimental piety and poorly understood. In reality, they are surprising morality tales about how to live a life of compassion, generosity, and gratitude even under the sway of empire.
They are often read during the season of Pentecost, in the summer. And this summer, we’re going to need them even more than usual.
From May 27 (today) until July 8, we’re going to explore THE PARABLES OF PENTECOST through A Beautiful Year.
This series will be OPEN TO ALL COTTAGE SUBSCRIBERS, with some extras for paid subscribers.
HERE’S HOW IT WILL WORK:
There are SIX parables featured in the book on pages 226 - 257. Each week will focus on a different parable, reading them in the order that they appear in the book.
Wednesdays until July 8, OPEN TO ALL COTTAGE READERSEach week, we’ll explore a different parable. You can read each parable in the book. On Wednesday, you’ll receive the recorded essay based on a particular parable from the AUDIOBOOK of A Beautiful Year. You can read and/or listen as you choose.*
Every Wednesday features special prompts related to the featured parable and an open comment thread. I will drop in-and-out of the comment thread on Wednesdays to reply to questions and comments — and encourage you all to do the same.
WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE FOR VBS 2026Readings from A Beautiful Year
May 27: The Parables of Pentecost, an Overview of Ordinary TimeJune 3: The Parable of the Good SamaritanJune 10: The Parable of the Prodigal SonJune 17: The Parable of the Laborers in the VineyardJune 24: The Parable of the Wicked Tenants July 1: The Parable of the Wise and Foolish BridesmaidsJuly 8: The Parable of the Talents
*These chapters cannot be reprinted in whole due to copyright restrictions, but the audiobook selections will be presented in their entirety from the original (with publisher permission and participation!).
If you wish to purchase a copy of A Beautiful Year, check the sellers at the button below for various formats, some at discounted prices.
Fridays May 29 - July 3, FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS ONLYFridays feature a LIVE video gathering with either a special guest or a conversation with just us regarding the week’s parable. (These conversations will be recorded and sent out to paid subscribers afterward.)
➡️➡️ THIS FRIDAY, MAY 29 at 12:00 NOON EASTERN JOHN DOMINIC CROSSAN joins us in a live conversation about Empire, Pentecost, and Parables.(Link will be emailed to paid subscribers on Friday morning, May 29).
Sundays through the Summer, FOR ALL READERSSunday Musings will follow the lectionary as usual. This summer the readings will all be from Matthew. Most will not be related to the Parables series.
THIS WEEK: ORDINARY TIME
The video at the top of this today’s email is from A Beautiful Year, pp. 223-225, “Ordinary Time.”
And, here’s a quote from page 209 to ponder in tandem with today’s reading/video:
Pentecost begins with a day of miracles and the dramatic outpouring of God’s spirit into the world. The season following Pentecost Day is also known as Ordinary Time, and it may be as long as twenty-eight weeks. The overall story is simple: Even the most dazzling miracles must be lived out in the mundane.
Its liturgical color is green, representing the growing season.
The readings for this verdant period include parables and instructions on spiritual practices. Ordinary Time invites mindfulness of the familiar. We learn to see miracles in the quotidian. In these months of growing, the garden requires attention that the harvest may be abundant.
PROMPTS for COMMENTSPick a question and run with it in the Comment section!
* Why emphasize the ORDINARY in these CHAOTIC times? What power does the “ordinary” hold?
* How does one practice “Ordinary Time” while the world is in the midst of extraordinary challenge and change? Is “ordinary” only an escape? What spiritual wisdom resides in the ordinary?
* What role do stories like the parables play in strengthening and deepening our spiritual lives? Why is this form of storytelling been so enduring and compelling? And why would the lectionary include so many parables during the season of Pentecost?
Start the conversation or respond to another’s comment. The only guidelines: Be thoughtful, curious, and kind.
Welcome to the Cottage Summer Series —The Parables of Pentecost, Telling the Truth Slant
Let’s journey together and discover the power of story
🙏 ❤️ Thank you to the paid subscribers whose continued generosity makes it possible for me to open experiences like this to the entire Cottage community.
You make a difference. I’m truly grateful for and to you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting my work and the community here, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
This is the last week for the May Birthday Blowout special — 25% off all NEW annual subscriptions. It’s a great bargain!
When it comes to doing something about what is wrong in the world, Jesus is best known for his fondness for the minute, the invisible, the quiet, the slow – yeast, salt, seeds, light.
And manure.
― Eugene H. Peterson
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dianabutlerbass.substack.com/subscribe