The news of the British referendum shook the world this week, sending financial markets into turmoil, prompting rage from British Millennials, and inspiring no small amount of fear in an American public. Few waited very long to draw comparisons between…
Immigrants who aren’t supposed to be in the room
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar? With these words,…
Prairie burning and new life
On a recent road trip through southern Kansas, I witnessed a spring rite, the burning of the prairie. The billowing smoke and red glow of distant fires are quite the vista — and a sign of renewal. The distinctive smell…
Thoughts on welcoming the stranger
By LeDayne McLeese Polaski I’ve been thinking a lot lately about strangers. I suppose we all have. Strangers — immigrants from Central America, refugees from Syria, Muslims crossing international borders, even people on the other side of town — are…
Christians must cry for justice when lives are taken unjustly
José Antonio Elena Rodríguez was only 16 when he was killed, walking home from a basketball game in October 2012. According to what news reports have pieced together, the unarmed child was shot 10 times, 8 in the back, by…
What made Jesus angry?
In the healing of the leper in Mark 1:40-45 the text reads in the NRSV, “Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.” There is a footnote that says, “Other ancient authorities read anger.” There are some…
Jesus, Africa, refugees, and a retelling of the Christmas narrative
The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Latest posts by (see all) What are the Theological Disciplines?: The Christian Academy as University – December 10, 2015 The Intellectual Life Together – December 8, 2015 What Child Is This?: The…
Reckoning with the children on our doorstep
By Alan Bean What do we do with the unaccompanied children, some say as many as 100,000, who have surrendered to American border officials in the last few months? Barack Obama speaks of a humanitarian crisis, but thinks fast-track deportation…
A celebration
She is young, energetic and smart. She wants to study genetics. Her English is broken, but she is absolutely determined to make it perfect. She realizes that coming to the US was a chance in a lifetime. He is a…