It didn’t surprise me in recent weeks to read articles like the essay Gene Weingarten wrote for the Washington Post in which he lamented the fact that “I find myself profoundly disliking and disrespecting almost half of my countrymen and…
Your gospel is too small
September 11, 2001. Although post-graduate theological diplomas decorated my book-stuffed office and 40 years of pastoral ministry were under my belt, I was speechless that Tuesday morning when hijacked airplanes demolished more than national icons. What was I to say…
Where can we find saints today?
When he traveled, Martin Luther King Jr. often carried with him Jesus and the Disinherited, a small book by Howard Thurman, one of the spiritual guides of the Civil Rights Movement. In it, Thurman teaches that as a poor Jewish…
A white Jesus, the American Creed, and a nation badly divided
I was young — perhaps only 3 or 4 — when I learned in Sunday school that “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world; red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight….
‘We are all one race, and we are image-bearers of God’
Deep within the darkness of a womb, a little one is being carefully, lovingly knit together by our Father’s hands. The child is a gift created in his likeness, intended to bring him glory and bless his world and its…
Getting into the holiday spirit is hard this year
Along with the election next week, I cannot ignore the fact that the darkest, loneliest period of the year begins Sunday with the end of Daylight Savings Time. Before my husband’s death in April 2009, I never paid much attention…
Operation Family Meeting aims to get politically divided families around the table again
In the age of Trump, hometowns, Sunday dinners and even holiday celebrations are no longer safe spaces for families with opposing views. These familiar places become hostile zones of contrary views, charged with emotional fervor. But they don’t have to…
Bonhoeffer Moment No. 3: When conscience fails and hypocrisy prevails
In the first of this series, I noted that Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison begins with a 1943 essay titled “After Ten Years,” written the year before he was imprisoned by the Nazis. In it, the German theologian/preacher/teacher…
Seek to become a ‘trauma-informed congregation’ in November forward
In recent years, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a highly visible part of our culture, and generalized trauma has emerged as a consistent issue for clergy and churches. The majority of Americans have experienced a significant trauma in their…
My Dad witnessed the last ‘legal’ hanging in America
My dad, Tom Moody, was there. Aug, 14, 1936. Owensboro, Ky. The last legal public hanging in America. “My brother and I got up before dawn and hitchhiked into town,” he said many years later. “There were lots of cars going that…
On the struggle bus wondering about authenticity, performance and the pandemic
I was talking to someone I hadn’t touched base with in a while. They said something like, “It looks like you’re doing great,” based on what they saw on Facebook. I smiled and didn’t have the heart to tell them…
True confession: I’m addicted to being white
Hello, my name is Ben and I’m addicted to whiteness. I can’t pinpoint exactly when it started, but I know I wasn’t born this way. No one is born addicted, but I was nursed and raised by addicts who were…