A friend recently had surgery and we wanted to send flowers as she recuperated. Kathy asked, “What do you think — a bouquet of flowers or a plant?” Knowing this friend has a new house and could later use the…
Will gender equality prevail?
Many of us are still sleep-deprived after two weeks of political conventions. Part pageantry, part spectacle, and part the inevitable chaos of democracy, these quadrennial gatherings summon our collective hopes and fears and urge us to take the long view….
Confessions of a white preacher
Two stories. Two young men. One white. One black. It was a number of years ago now. I was a pastor in the suburbs of Washington, in a multi-ethnic congregation of people from the very poor to the quite wealthy….
Who’s filling your grocery shelves? Vulnerable workers with few protections.
Their fingerprints are on the food we consume, these men leave wives, children, parents, extended family and their communities to spend a minimum of seven months a year working in the U.S. guest worker program.
How are the children? Not well.
Amidst the injustice that surrounds and overwhelms, with all of the wrenching questions and heartbreaking prayers and pressing violence, is there anything any more important for a church to do than to ensure that the children are well and welcome?
Looking for what is good in a challenging world
Who we choose to be informs how we will live and move and have our being in this world. After all, we are people commanded to be known by the way we love one another. If that is our starting point in all things, we will see the good and hope and promise in the challenges before us.
What would it take to improve police interactions with people with disabilities?
We must stop using our law enforcement system as a substitute for a failing disability service system. The rates of justice involvement among people with disabilities reflect in large part the failure to offer people services such as supportive housing, employment services and mobile crisis services.
Christian, Baptist, Evangelical — two out of three ain’t bad
Recently, someone who presents himself as “religiously unaffiliated” asked: “Aren’t you evangelicals really just the Republican Party at prayer?” We are good friends, so I responded: “Who’s ‘you evangelicals,’ you none?” For those readers who don’t have cable TV or…
Hillary Clinton interviews with a pastor search committee
First off, let me say how honored I am to finally be your candidate. Truthfully, I’ve been eyeing this position for years. In fact, my lifelong goal has been to become your pastor. As Paul says, “I’ve kept my eye…
Fear and the story we tell ourselves
It’s exhausting. The stories in my head. The imagined scenarios, assumed motives and relentless “what ifs” that make me question myself, think the worst of others and suck the joy out of life.
At a loss for words
Lament is truthful speech that names the fact that some of us are losing our sons and some of us are losing our souls and none of us can be whole until we change.
Grief fatigue: Are we really making a difference in the world’s healing?
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with a group of millennial social justice leaders who were meeting across the street at Union Theological Seminary. I probably shouldn’t have read their bios before I headed over to their closing…