Invocation. “Come Ye Disconsolate,” Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway § § § § Today, in the United States (and selected outposts of our nation’s allies and opponents), there is a gluttony of emotive expression prompted by our nation’s electoral conclusions. As…
Pastoral empathy and prophetic discord against the backdrop of the war in Gaza
“For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, the trees in applause.” —Isaiah 55:12 § § § Prelude. “I don’t know how my mother walked…
When discussing the war in Gaza, we must ask the question about genocide
Invocation “Schindler’s List” — violin solo by Braimah Kanneh-Mason § § § Following Hamas’ brutal execution of nearly 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s words have become infamous: “I have ordered a complete siege…
A musical playlist for commemorating Martin Luther King
As I write, the fifth day of Eastertide (which began on Easter eve and ending 50 days later on Pentecost Sunday) draws close. As does the moment in 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while standing just outside…
Going public with Lent’s call to penitence
“Concealment makes the soul a swamp. Confession is how you drain it.” — Charles M. Blow They have treated the wound of my people carelessly. They acted shamefully, they committed abomination, yet they did not know how to blush. —…
Epiphany: Manifesting the bias of heaven
As a youngster, Christmas season began the day after Thanksgiving (now known as “Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year) and ended on Dec. 26. That’s when holiday ornaments were put away, the tree was disposed (its shedded…
Reading Christmas through the lens of Advent’s anguish
“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” —French philosopher Henri Bergson For several years running, my sister and I played a little game to ease the boredom of our family’s four-and-a-half hour drive from West…
Baptist congregation in Tbilisi dedicates space for Jewish synagogue
Dedication of a synagogue within the confines of a Baptist church in the Republic of Georgia exemplifies the peacemaking potential of interfaith dialogue and relationships, said Paul Hayes, a retired Baptist pastor and former Alliance of Baptists board member. Hayes…
Things Christians need to know, for our own sake, about Yom Kippur, Judaism’s Day of Atonement
Invocation “Forgive the entire congregation / of the children of Yisrael / and the stranger amongst them / for the entire people sin unintentionally / Please pardon the sins of this nation / in accordance with the greatness / of…