At various times in the biblical narrative, the Hebrew people gathered memorial stones in sacred spaces. These rock formations served as places of remembrance for all to see and be reminded of the power and transformative nature of God. May…
A grief unobserved: Why aren’t we talking about this at church?
When they flipped his body over, the bright canary yellow blanket fell on the grass. His hoodie was damp because he’d been laying there a while and it had been raining that night. He was wearing jeans and fresh Fusion…
‘I can’t breathe’: three words that capture the crushing weight of systemic racism in America
Those of us who are white are asked by the cross to stand in solidarity with the crucified class to dismantle the structures of white supremacy that sustains itself through the use, abuse and destruction of black and brown bodies.
Fighting for our lives – and saving ourselves from ‘this corrupt generation’
In confronting white nationalist terror and the Washington-based bigotry that has invited it into the mainstream, we must be both fierce in our struggle but also prayerful in our devotion. We must call this nation to repent for its sins and call it too to save itself from this “corrupt generation.”
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…
Five grieving mothers & the problem of race
I’m finishing a fine novel called All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr in which one of the characters repeats this mantra: Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever. I feel…
Between the World and Me: A reflection
Over the weekend, I ventured out to Barnes & Noble in Atlanta to pick up a couple books. I bought March, a graphic novel that is a first-hand account of Congressman John Lewis’ life and struggle for civil rights. I…
The Myth of Righteous America: Why white people support Darren Wilson
The shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson and the choking death of Eric Garner in Staten Island have dominated the news cycle for weeks, making it almost impossible to get any other issue onto the agenda. Immigration, Ebola and…
Peace on Facebook or Ferguson or Long Island or Cleveland
There’s a certain hollow and rather pernicious powerless-ness that wells up within me as I’ve quietly taken in the scenes, voices and verdicts (or, rather, lack thereof) unfolding before us all over the last couple of weeks. So much so,…