We’ve been reminded that the whirling galaxies, the energy and the matter, the space and the time, the quarks and the stars, the waves and the wind are all part of One, grand and unifying Spirit. I was surprised when…
And the women were there
In her memoir Mighty Be Our Powers, the Liberian grassroots activist and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee said: Modern war stories often resemble each other, male commanders are quoted offering predictions of swift victory, male diplomats make serious…
In North Carolina and Syria, the politics of ‘home’ is real
I haven’t lived in the place where I was born and raised in a long time. But sometimes a quality of “home” embedded in my consciousness is suddenly awakened — a visceral sense of rootedness in a place, among a…
It’s Opening Day — for baseball and maybe for life
The sun rises to meet the blue sky above, casting its light upon a diamond of reddish dirt and fresh cut grass. A white ball pops against the worn, brown leather of the catcher’s mitt. The crack of the bat…
Do you know the difference between being an American and being a Christian?
One of the great gifts of the Baptist voice to the wider world of Christianity is the idea of the separation of church and state. In the United States, this voice gave direction, via the Constitution, that citizens of our…
It’s easy to pretend we’ve forgiven, when the hurt is merely buried
During this past Lenten season, our congregation journeyed together around the theme of forgiveness — God’s forgiveness of us, as well as our forgiveness of ourselves and others. Here are some takeaways. 1. Believe it or not, a lack of…
Do not despise the day of small things
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” … For whoever has despised the day of small things shall…
Practicing resurrection with a new vocabulary
It is a well-known line from Wendell Berry’s Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front: “Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.” I have been thinking about this enigmatic statement as…
No explanations needed inside the church
Some years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Holy Land with a large tour group. We spent two weeks traveling around Israel and Palestine but spent most of our time in and around Jerusalem. One of the most…
A ragged wall that looks a lot like the Church
The rocks were far from perfect. Our 30-year-old retaining wall had come tumbling down, and the stone masons were tasked with rebuilding it. They would reuse the rocks, but they’d have to shape them to fit the new design. The…
Springsteen and Easter: ‘The Rising’
Many fans of Bruce Springsteen will not be surprised that this series of writings on the intersection between Lent and the minstrel from Freehold Borough, N. J., should come to a conclusion with “The Rising” on Easter Sunday. The song…
What color is a crayon called ‘flesh’?
Several decades ago I was in a learning experience with a diverse group of people in terms of race. We were divided into small groups and given cards of various colors. We were asked to respond to questions by suggesting…