Growing up, many of us were taught the first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, by a group of Pilgrims and members of the Wampanoag tribe. Some of us even held classroom reenactments of the event, donning funny…
What I learned in the ER about the image of God
We must ever and always manifest Christ’s likeness with humility. Do we really think we have what it takes to understand complex and deceptive humans? We rarely understand ourselves! How will we know when to speak and when to be…
The death of providence
In the spring of 2020, early in the COVID pandemic, most United Methodist churches temporarily suspended in-person worship services. On the first Sunday of the suspension, I decided to worship online with a large, out of state United Methodist congregation….
The bathroom battles come to the U.S. Capitol
Al Mohler is proof that you can dress a fundamentalist in a $3,000 suit and he’s still going to come off like a sweaty William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes monkey trial. The ever-well-dressed and ever-opinionated Mohler slapped down the…
How the election split the survivor sphere
The echo chamber got me. I am a survivor of child abuse and an advocate for victims of domestic violence; the related social spheres are the ones I frequent online. All I had seen for weeks was joy over Harris/Walz…
Former K-Kountry camper tells his story in prose
In the latest edition of the Virginia Quarterly Review, former K-Kountry camper Wilson Sims writes about his experience as a camper who escaped abuse at the hands of serial sex abuser, Peter Newman. His essay helps readers dive into a…
The country I know
On Nov. 3, 2020, I was excited about the opportunity to vote for Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, a Black woman, a graduate of my school (Howard), for president and vice president. After they won, I was…
Tony Campolo taught me about a faith outside myself
Tony Campolo was the first to wake me up to a faith outside of myself. I started college in the late 1990s, full of passion for Jesus and for telling other people about him too. Eager to live out this…
The anger and disappointment I feel for my fellow Americans
As drenched as I am in unmerited privilege — as a white, heterosexual, male, American citizen of above-average means — I know I am placed at much less personal risk than many of my neighbors by Donald Trump’s election. That…