On The New York Times website recently, Ruth Graham wrote about the surge of converts to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, driven heavily by young, conservative men who crave the grounding in tradition it provides. I was immediately struck by the resonances…
Letters to Mary: Women are fully alive
Looking yourself in the eye and feeling alive That is hope — Christy LaFrance Williamson Dear Mary, Mother, I write these words to you woman to woman, my flesh like your flesh. I also am a mother, and I…
Starving the mindset that feeds terrorism
Across Nigeria’s highways and farm paths, in markets and dormitories, and even in churches and mosques, faith has become a weapon. The line between devotion and destruction has grown perilously thin. Religious violence here is not new; what is new is…
Who gets to apologize?
The recent atmospheric shift felt by many across the country wasn’t hell freezing over — it was Marjorie Taylor Greene apologizing for years of participating in what she called “toxic politics,” taking responsibility for herself and her own actions. For those of…
Back to the plantation: How MAHA weaponizes food
As the nation looks to the holidays and fallout from the longest government shutdown in history, funds are slowly becoming available to fund SNAP programs for 42 million Americans. At the same time, the Make America Healthy Again movement is poised to resurrect a…
MAGA Thanksgiving may implode like a deep-fried turkey
There are indications this year’s MAGA family Thanksgiving gathering may be contentious. Pre-Thanksgiving arguments and disagreements threaten to spill into scraps and splits at the family meal. After more than 10 years of party loyalty and unity, the MAGA family…
20 questions for Baylor University
With families traveling long distances by car this week, there’s likely to be a resurgence of one of the most beloved of all time-passing games, Twenty Questions. In that spirit, I’ve come up with 20 questions for the leadership of…
A different kind of Thanksgiving gratitude
Over the last couple of weeks, I sat down to write my Thanksgiving message several times, only to scrap every draft. Try as I may, I find myself incapable of penning some sappy tribute to the season. Don’t get me…
Liberalism is not liberation
One of my predecessors as pastor at Myers Park Baptist Church was the great Carlyle Marney, who confessed, “The real crisis for me was in Charlotte” where he was caught in a web of socio-economic forces that included “money, banking,…
A committee of one
On Thanksgiving Day, when my sons and I sit down for dinner, we will be joined by a gentleman who spent the past 12 years living the harrowing life of an unhoused person. While living on the streets, he suffered…
‘Progressive imagination often is wider than progressive practice’
Not long ago, a search committee called to share their final discernment after months of conversations, sermons, prayers and emails. Their words were familiar, almost rehearsed by the collective memory of Black clergy everywhere. They told me it had become…
With gratitude for the women who lead us
Julie Pennington Russell called me last month. I had just finished a centering prayer group, a practice Pastor Julie helped nurture in me, and I began to weep when I saw her name on my phone. I was so grateful…