You don’t often get fortune-telling in a Baptist church, so when it happens, you sit up and take notice. Perhaps “prophecy” is a better descriptor. I was about 13 years old, slightly more concerned with whether a boy was going…
Wake up
There was an urgency to his whisper: “Mary, wake up!” Like any new mother, she was instantly awake, asking, “What’s wrong? Where’s Jesus?” “He’s fine. But we have to go. I’ll explain on the way.” Her husband’s face, lit only…
Monday
Monday catches a lot of grief! Just the other day, at the YMCA where I work, a member came in carrying his workout bag and his clothes for work. As he scanned in, with a bit of dread, he made…
The liberating potential of queer joy
In the midst of the past three weeks, I’ve had a hard time finding reason for celebration and optimism. The Grammys changed that. Fall semester 2023, I taught a study abroad program in London. Upon learning about my iPhone’s music…
A Declaration of Economic Independence
DEI, originally coined as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, has a new meaning for Black Americans in the second age of Trump called the Declaration of Economic Independence. In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, corporate America temporarily pledged billions…
The church is called to DEI
Before taking office, Donald Trump promised a crackdown on diversity initiatives. In the weeks following the inauguration, some might say he’s overdelivered on his promise, shutting down federal DEI offices and putting all federal employees that work in such programs…
The sacredness of DEI
Diversity, equity and inclusion. DEI. I want to begin this post by reclaiming these words as good, whole and holy. You and I embody diversity, equity and inclusion. As Stacey Abrams recently said in her podcast, DEI is not something…
Exiled
Right now, I’m feeling like I’m in exile — sent there by the last election, sent there by the president’s actions these last seven weeks, driven there by the cruel antics of his sidekick, Elon Musk. Most readers of this…
In New Orleans, Christians form a second line to counter Sean Feucht
On the eve of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, the “anti-vaccine, pro-Trump, guitar-strumming preacher” Sean Feucht staged a so-called Jesus March in the French Quarter of New Orleans. In addition to Feucht’s rise to fame for defying safety orders…
The pattern is contempt for the poor
The pattern emerged in the biblical text when the prophet Nathan confronted the king of Israel and said, “Thou art the man.” And in the United States, that very same pattern now has become crystal clear. The pattern is contempt…
‘Woke’ T-shirt gets off to a sassy start
I own an indecent number of social-justice T-shirts. Name a cause and I bet I have a T-shirt to match. At last count, I had at least two dozen shirts with a theme or motto. There’s my indigenous shirt with…
Here’s how faith leaders should address a new era of division in US politics
Since delivering a sermon at the inaugural prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde has faced a firestorm of backlash from far-right forces. Pointing to her calls for mercy — especially for LGBTQ people and immigrants —…