The Divine Protest of Pentecost
The God of Pentecost doesn't have an official language. This is the shocking revelation of the day of Pentecost, but one often lost amid the day's more bombastic metaphors of rushing winds, descending doves and intoxicated disciples with tongues touched by fire. But in a country with a history of suppressing other languages in the name of unity and imperialism and in a nation where a xenophobic English-only movement is gaining ground with ads like this targeting immigration reform, this … [Read More...]
Questions Not Answers: My Journey from Journalism to the Priesthood
In college, I thought that by the time I was 32, I would be working at a large daily newspaper, not a month away from ordination in the Episcopal church.* As a journalism student and a greenhorn reporter in Alabama and Northern California, I assumed I would spend the majority of my adult life in a newsroom. I thought that I would take all the late-night lessons from the college newspaper office that inexplicably smelled like old cabbage and apply them to late nights on deadlines in a daily … [Read More...]
Keeping Silence in Tragedy: In the Aftermath of Explosions
Violence and tragedy has again struck. And it is hard to know what to say, what to do, particularly now that mass and social media have made us all witnesses to carnage and horror. And it is even harder to remember, in moments like these, that the kind of violence our nation has experienced only sporadically is a day-to-day lived reality in many countries throughout the world. It has hard to remember, as we say that God is weeping at our tragedy, that God has been weeping for years, an … [Read More...]
Transforming Film into Contemplative Prayer: A Review of Thom Stark’s ‘Who Art in Heaven’
Director Thom Stark summarizes his award-winning film Who Art in Heaven simply: "A Man Prays." But don't let Stark deceive you, because if you do, he will devastate you in the best possible way. There is so much more going on in this eloquent and compact film than its tagline would have you believe, and the meditative layers that Stark weaves into his film might just leave you as it did me in a holy and wonderful silence. The film runs a little more than 20 minutes, but, if you plan to … [Read More...]
Unholy Laws: Establishing Religion in N.C., Starving Children in Tennessee
UPDATE: Sen. Stacey Campfield, who proposed the original welfare bill in Tennessee and responded to this post in the comments, has withdrawn the bill, asking it be studied over the summer. Clergy and activists in Tennessee and around the country put the pressure on and quashed the bill. I was profoundly saddened to hear the state legislature of North Carolina won't be considering a bill that would have allowed it to establish a state religion. Of all the hackneyed ideas put forward by … [Read More...]
Don’t Believe Easter, Live It
Easter Day is over. But Easter has only just begun. For 50 days, Easter continues, according to the Christian calendar, and those 50 days represent a singular great feast celebrating God’s triumph of love over the violence and hate that throttles our world. Even though the season lasts for almost two months, we often forget about Eastertide as soon Easter Day ends. Once the chocolate is consumed and once the last hardboiled Easter egg is finally found in the place no one remembers … [Read More...]
Easter for Doubters: The Unexpected Faith of Thomas (Lectionary Reflection for the Second Sunday in Easter)
It's Easter. Do not be afraid to doubt. Doubt boldly. Doubt joyfully. In fact, these are important, faithful and beautiful responses to the Paschal mystery, as author Rachel Held Evans demonstrated last week. Indeed, in the gospels, doubt and disbelief are important to the Easter experience, and Jesus does not condemn his disciples for them. So, if we want to experience the resurrection, I suggest that we not simply celebrate it or find joy and hope in it. We must doubt it, too. We … [Read More...]
The Crucifixion: A Tale of Two Kingdoms (Good Friday Homily, John 18:1-19-42)
During Holy Week, we are tossed to and fro with stories of triumph and hosannas, last suppers, grieving prayers, betrayals, denials and crucifixion, all which lead to Easter and alleluias. Holy Week reminds me a little of the opening lines of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness.” In many ways, the story of the passion and crucifixion of our Lord in John’s gospel tonight is … [Read More...]
The Lost Shepherd and the Amoral Love of God
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. So begins the most well-known and treasured Psalm of all time. At hospital beds, it is recited by patients and chaplains alike. In times of distress and discomfort, its soothing words are meant to bring succor and peace. It is supposed to be a comfort, to consider the Lord our shepherd. But, to be honest, God is an awful shepherd. In Luke, Jesus tells a story of a shepherd who loses one sheep. So, having lost the sheep, the shepherd leaves the … [Read More...]
God is the Prodigal Son: Reinventing Christianity’s Most Beloved Parable (Lectionary Reflection)
Lent 4C — Sunday, March 10 — Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 God is irresponsible. Hopelessly so. In the well-worn parable of the prodigal son, it seems Jesus is telling us God can’t be bothered to consider the consequences of actions — God’s or those of sinners. God is feckless. Ridiculously so. This is the Gospel of our Lord. Yet, to our minds, God’s love, demonstrated in this parable, seems rather immoral. It doesn’t sit well with us. It casts aside right and … [Read More...]
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