As we laid Phyllis, my paternal grandmother, to rest Dec. 11, 2019, I looked around and saw my family trying to piece themselves together. It was an intense funeral, the kind that comes after an unexpected loss; the kind where…
Justice sated in The Handmaid’s Tale
The much-anticipated return of The Handmaid’s Tale, a TV series based on the post-apocalyptic novel by Margaret Atwood, was just released. Last season ended with the murder of Commander Fred Waterford, who played a large part in the creation of…
Three things white Christians can do to address white supremacy: Lament, repent, dissent
White supremacy is the erroneous belief that white people are superior to people of other races or ethnicities and should possess power and control in all areas of life. In fact, “race” was socially constructed centuries ago to ensure white…
Lament should be the order of the day
Lament should be the order of the day. Yesterday, we began Black History Month with bomb threats made against at least 13 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) throughout the country. Unfortunately, that these threats coincide with the beginning of…
COVID wars: Lament over a broken, divided nation
I was talking with a senior Mercer University colleague yesterday about the divisions engulfing our nation over COVID vaccines and masks. Carl has served as a pastor, professor and politician. He’s a very wise man. I said: “Carl, two years…
Raging at God after my 67-year-old father died of COVID
My dad was a vibrant and healthy 67-year-old when he caught COVID-19 and died a few weeks before Christmas. It was an abrupt and jarring experience for my family. I was left heartbroken and enraged. I was angry at this…
An October prayer
Note: This is not a simulation. This is exactly the state of my prayer life right now. “It feels like a bill has come due and God is collecting.” —White House source to Joe Scarborough, Twitter, 8:38 a.m. October 7,…
Rediscovering the songs of lament would wake us up
On a recent day in Washington, D.C., thousands of evangelicals, almost all of them white, gathered to a rally and to sing praise and worship music. One image that sticks in my head is a group surrounding Michael W. Smith,…
I’ll get to hope. For now, I need to sit in the ashes and mourn
This pandemic is not a theological crisis. It’s a moral one. We would do well in this moment to take the prophet Jeremiah’s advice to “put on sackcloth, lament and howl.” We need to mourn and rage and contemplate what led us to this moment.