I’ve been to my share of doctors. Many of those visits happened when I was so young that they have no conscience in my adult brain. My earliest memories were of Dr. Matchett, an orthopedic surgeon who was assigned the…
‘This Land Is Your Land’ sounds different as an adult today
The music of elementary school never left me. I remember the tinkering incoherence of band instruments, high whistles of the recorder, the school piano at assemblies. But most vividly, I remember the hum of children stirring when my grade six…
Amid the hypocrisy of critiquing ‘unity,’ maybe we need a different goal: Cooperation
We need to debunk the argument that achieving “unity” means everyone will get their way. That’s not logically possible. This fallacious thinking is emerging as a primary conservative critique of the new administration in Washington, D.C. And once again, it…
Think you understand what it’s like to live on minimum wage? Here’s my story
Two weeks before I got married, I lost my job delivering pizzas because I had gotten three tickets for minor traffic violations over the previous two years. So when we got back from our honeymoon, I landed a job working…
‘God bless white America’: Why we need to overturn white racial mythologies
On June 17, 2015, a young white stranger walked into a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. (sometimes known as “Mother Emanuel” because of its role as one of America’s most historic Black churches). That…
Truth Decay: How lies prepare the way for evil
“They bend their tongues like bows; they have grown strong in the land for falsehood, and not for truth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, says the Lord.” — Jeremiah 9:3 Every fall semester at…
Finding resilience in the midst of COVID fatigue
I hear it in breathless conversations with ministers in multiple settings: “I’m exhausted. How can I be this tired when most of what I do is talk on the phone or to a screen?” “I’m running out of ideas about…
Can you really be ‘evangelical’ if you don’t bring good news to the poor?
American evangelicals must be reminded that they are to bear good news and be good news. Numerous American Christians don’t care for the politicized label “evangelical” even though they are, in fact, evangelists. Many such non-evangelicals are more evangelistic than…
Today, I’ve got nothing to say
I’ve got nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. It never has happened before, but I’ve been trying to write this piece since Jan. 6. And I’ve got nothing. For about five years, I’ve enjoyed this platform. Many would give their writing hand…
Two words, two virtues, to help America move forward
On Inauguration Day evening, I went to bed exhausted with the mix of the day’s emotions. Joy over the beginning of a new administration; relief there had been no violence; and sorrow — sorrow over all the human lives lost…
Trying to make sense of January 6: Jesus wept
I watched the bizarre assault live on television as I rocked an infant in my arms. I have spent every waking minute reading eyewitness accounts, listening to podcasts and watching cable news. I’m trying to understand. I’m asking myself if…
A wish list for the common good in a new era
With the presidential inauguration, a new session of Congress and state legislatures gearing up, Americans receive fresh reminders to look toward the future with hope. Of course, we place ultimate trust in God and not government. But we propel our…