On Tuesday, Sept.18, 2001, poet/prophet/writer Maya Angelou, professor of humanities at Wake Forest University, spoke to students and faculty at the Wake Forest School of Divinity. We had scheduled her visit months before, never knowing that it would occur exactly…
The Trump Card: How white evangelicals are being played
As a Christian leader, I will not be silent about the current state of white evangelicalism in America. I must lay out the facts, clearly and succinctly. Due to the rise of Donald Trump and Trumpism, white American evangelicalism has…
Baptists and Catholics together? Progress and promise despite a shaky start
A few years ago, I delivered a keynote address for a symposium on the Vatican II Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, held at Creighton University in connection with the 50th anniversary of its promulgation on Nov. 21, 1964. The fact…
Music and change, blowin’ in the wind
Although travel is still restricted and we look at the outside world from our windows, my husband and I recently ventured out to the Northern California coast. Settling into our quiet upstairs room, with a balcony overlooking the magnificent Pacific…
Putting Jesus and Paul ahead of personal freedom
Yesterday on my way home, I went to the supermarket to pick up a few things. Arriving at the door at the same time as a young mother and child coming from a different part of the parking lot, I…
It’s 1984 in Texas
In junior high, we had an English assignment to read George Orwell’s classic, 1984. By that time, the story was probably a dozen years old, and I don’t recall thinking that the year 1984 would soon arrive. I have a…
If Jesus could be changed by a sass-mouthed woman, maybe legislators and governors can be too
In Texas, vehement castigations of Critical Race Theory are being thrown around when a last grasp at holding onto white supremacy is what was actually passed in the Legislature. This bill seeks to deny our hard truths, our painful history,…
When your religion goes against my religion
On Sept. 2, Religion News Service published an opinion piece by Rabbi Danny Horwitz titled “Texas’ abortion ban is against my religion. As a rabbi, I will defy it if necessary.” The article certainly impressed me with its provocative title….
Raising kids at the end of the world
Recently, in the parking lot outside my office, I cried in my car for 10 minutes before work. This was after listening to my local NPR affiliate interview a parent from my son’s school. In her remarks, this parent calmly…
Escaped from Afghanistan: One family’s story of terror
Mustafa Aria, 14, escaped from terror-torn Afghanistan with his family just days ago, airlifted by the United States military from Kabul to Qatar to Germany and then by United Airlines to Washington, D.C. On Sunday, after grueling days at the…
A chat with Mickey at Bubba-Doo’s about whether I preach the gospel or not
I stop in occasionally at a store called Bubba-Doo’s. It’s about 10 miles outside the interstate on the main highway that rolls through a series of towns. They are supposedly “world famous” for their hamburgers, according to the big sign…
‘The meanness of this moment’ in America (and its churches)
Recently, a friend asked, “Has American culture gone completely mad?” Today, I’d add to that troubling question this troubled response: “It’s not just that American culture has gone mad, it’s also gone mean. Meanness, to quote a Bette Midler song,…