As a woman who is often distracted by many tasks, I have felt belittled—almost shamed—by this story. If there is “only need of one thing,” then what are we going to do when the clean clothes run out and the fridge is empty and the ring in the toilet is getting so aggressive that the kids are nervous?
Read MoreHave you ever heard of the “gay agenda?” That phrase has been used as a threat and attempt to discredit queer folx and imply some sort of sinister intention behind our actions and behavior. However, if you ever ask an LGBTQIA+ person what their gay agenda is, you would find it rather boring. There is no secret. No vile intent. Our agendas consist of chores, dating, bills, binging on Gentleman Jack on HBO.
Read MoreAt the same table
Jesus sits and dines
Takes bread and wine
With one(s)
He knows,
betray(s) him.
Dismayed,
And yet
He stays
And prays
lets the road ahead,
like this dinner with broken bread,
Unfold.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This quote from Lord Acton often is used as a warning when someone gains a position of authority or as an explanation when someone in power behaves badly. Power, it seems, is like fire—play with it, and you’ll likely get burned.
“Who does God love?”
“A cheerful giver!”
The congregation’s vigorous response echoes around me as I sit terrified and transfixed. I watch people walk to the front to drop money into the offering plate held by my friend Angel.
I must admit I feel like the least qualified person to discuss Missional Inclusion through the lens of Ethnicity. Who am I to think, as a white cis-gendered straight man, that I have anything to say? Do we need another white guy talking about inclusion? My prayer is that the audacity that is the gospel of Christ might give me something to say.
Read MoreIn a world of absolutes, where our beliefs, thoughts, and statements are distilled down to 280 characters it can be a daunting task to wade into the murky waters of dialogue and conversation.
Read MoreA self-cropped mop of curls hung around her face which was as red as anger and hurt can make it. The toe of her one-inch heel was missing a few of the plastic jewels that crusted the surface. When she stamped it onto the long-ago polished wooden floor, her fingers, still a little chubby with babyhood, were fisted, tight.
Read MoreGod gave us brains, and I am convinced that God intends for us to use them. From one perspective, humanity was blessed with reason to be able to carry God’s task of creation forward. Just as God calls us to be God’s hands and feet in service to others, God calls us to use our reason to co-create solutions and blessings for all those around us.
Read MoreAbout fifteen years ago, I first heard about sustainable agriculture. Now, I come from a good, composting family. We had reusable shopping bags way before they were cool. But we never used the compost. We just didn’t throw food scraps in the trash. We threw them in the backyard. But in the world of sustainable agriculture, there are ways of doing things. There is tilth to consider. And biome—or was it biomass? And runoff.
Are you ready for a little grammar lesson? In the sentence "I am a lay theologian," there is a subject, I, and a predicate, am a lay theologian. The adjective lay modifies the predicate noun theologian not the subject I. And this feels important enough to risk your eyes glazing over with terrifying flashbacks of diagramming sentences.
Read MoreIn the mountains of Western North Carolina, the grass is growing again, the birds have returned, the carpenter bees are eating a perfect circle in the railing of my front porch. Spring has returned. The nights are soft and clear, and a certain yearning has returned to my heart. I love to wander under the twilight sky, deep into the evening—because, in the twilight, I can inhabit an edge.
Read MoreThe dishes have dried. The crumbs and snippets of yarn have been swept up. The sticky notes have been tabulated. National Gathering 2019 is a snapshot; taken, shared, and finished. In that moment, at that place, we were the Missional Wisdom Foundation, gathered.
As we have journeyed through lent together, we have only seen the backs of people’s heads in our images. Their faces have been left unseen by us. They have walked on away from us into the unknown, leaving us to ponder and ask, “Who are they? Where are they going? What are their names? What might it be like to see their face?”
Read MoreThere is something deep in the naming of a child. My husband and I have named five children, and not once did we do so lightly. We scoured baby-name books, made sure the middle names fit phonetically with the first names, screened favorite names for unfortunate meanings, and, even after all that, my hand shook as I wrote each new name down on the blue birth certificate form. After all, our names shape us.
Read MoreThis is week five. We are more than half way through our Lenten Journey, and I am hearing the rustling of plans.
Are you coming here for Easter? What should we eat? Do the kids have new outfits? Shoes? Easter baskets?
Easter isn't here yet, but it is close enough to be nudging its way in.
In the British science fiction show, Doctor Who, the Doctor is a Time Lord who can cheat death by a process called regeneration. He (and now she!) has been played by thirteen actors, allowing Doctor Who to be tv’s longest running sci fi program. With each new regeneration, the Doctor takes an episode to get reacquainted with the new body, new personality, and new preferences. Usually in the midst of a high stress, world-saving dilemma, while using that top-notch brain to devise a clever solution, the Doctor is in the midst of the chaos, figuring out who s/he is now.
To wrestle is to claim our place in God’s creation,
Because all of God’s creation wrestles...
The seed with the earth
The butterfly with the cocoon
The child with the parent
This past summer, I left my beloved community at the Bonhoeffer House to move to Wichita, Kansas. As I said goodbye to my friends and family to go to a new place, I noticed a recurring question rising up within me, “Will I be able to make any friends in this new place?” After years of having a strong community around me, I was afraid that I would be alone and lonely…Why is it that we are afraid of being alone?
A woman stood at the mouth of a cave. Any beauty her face would hold tomorrow had turned to gray, stern grief overnight. Her hair lay raggedly on her shoulders; her feet were dusty. She felt dry and limp—too exhausted to scrape together enough spirit to form tears, but, unbelievably, she could feel them soaking into the neck of her cloak.
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