Winnie Varghese is an essential voice in the Episcopal Church on issues of race and justice. A fellow Texan, she is the daughter of Indian immigrants. I first met Winnie during her time as priest for ministry and program coordination…
Southern Baptist theology set me up for sexual abuse
I grew up in a fundamentalist Southern Baptist church in Georgia. I was on the “cradle roll” from the time I was six weeks old, and I was at church “every time the doors were open,” as the saying goes….
Find the good and praise it
I would not have noticed them on my own. I would have scanned the skies with my binoculars for hours without success. A sighting would have remained elusive. Fortunately, I had help seeing what I otherwise would not have perceived….
Beauty from ashes: How catastrophe shaped the Bible
On May 30, 1921, the worst expression of racial hatred in American history took place in Tulsa, Okla. My son-in-law, Norman Lee, is a public artist. He recently was commissioned to create an enormous mural in a Tulsa underpass highlighting…
Let them eat ice cream
On Monday evening, Feb. 26, President Joe Biden was interviewed in an ice cream parlor. With a cone crowned with a copious three-scoop serving in his hand and a smirk on his face, he fabricated an announcement about an impending cease-fire…
Broken-hearted patriotism
I have a weekly prayer cycle I try to practice in my morning devotional time. On Mondays, I pray for myself, my discipleship, health, calling and responsibilities. On Tuesdays, I pray for each family member. On Wednesdays, I pray for…
An Ash Wednesday tragedy reminds us how easily our assumtions can burst
I got goaded into riding a drop tower while visiting an amusement park in Orlando. “Oh, come on. … It will be fun!” they said. The higher the gondola went up in the air, the more angst I experienced. One…
‘Have you heard the one about …?’
Three women — a Catholic, a Methodist and a Baptist — stepped up to the bar. The bar was not “The Idle Hour,” “Joe’s Bar & Grill” or any liquor establishment. It was the bar of law before which legal…
On Nex Benedict, invisible students, Easter Sunday and Trans Day of Visibility
Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old nonbinary student from Owasso, Okla., died Feb. 7. The cause of death remains undetermined. While tragic that a teen died, many fail to see the significance of what occurred. The focus of numerous reports centers on…