At right is the image of my Dad’s “Heart Shield” Bible, an edition of the New Testament on to which a metal plate has been attached. The engraved cover, now smudged by corrosion, reads “May this keep you safe from…
How a Baptist preacher learned about mass incarceration
These days, everybody seems to agree that mass incarceration–the policy of fighting crime by locking up as many people as possible for as long as possible–was a really bad idea. Charles and David Koch, Ted Cruz, and a steadily lengthening…
Incidental contact
Packing up a house is an archaeological expedition through the layers of a life in one place, not only because of the collections of things that have to be sorted and assigned a destination, but also because of the stories…
Bombs and balm
Recently declassified documents confirmed what many had long suspected, that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet ordered the 1976 assassination of former diplomat Orlando Letelier, along with his colleague, Ronni Karpen Moffit, in Washington, DC. This news is of especially personal…
Forgiveness breaks the Devil’s back
Fresh from wrestling with the Devil through forty days and forty nights, Jesus shows up in his home church of Nazareth and uses the ancient words of the prophet Isaiah to lay down his manifesto: The Spirit of the Lord…
Monday’s songs: The words we know
I had no idea what to say. Somewhere between realizing I had to lead Sunday school and looking over what I had planned to teach, I was gripped by the fact that I had no words. What exactly do you…
The Mother Emanuel Nine and the Parable of the Sower and the Soils
South Carolina became my adopted state 30 years ago. Understanding and appreciating its culture is a continual journey of social and religious understanding. The story of the Emanuel Nine provides a new dimension of learning. This tragic incident is personal…
Good guys and bad guys
We were sitting in the car killing time. It was the lull between dropping my oldest child off at kindergarten and preparing to take my youngest to preschool. The doors hadn’t opened yet. I pulled out my cell phone and…
The sacredness of doubt
It is unfortunate that the Johannine Thomas has come to be known by many Christians as “doubting Thomas.” Thomas, however, is no different than the rest of the disciples or for that matter, you or me. In the broader narrative…