Lordy, Lordy, it is our preoccupation, interpreting our times. From CNN panels to New York Times op eds, from campaign hats to bumper stickers, these times are what it’s all about. And Jesus says, we can’t do it. And he scolds us for that. In a long, fiery sermon about just this, interpreting our times, he talked about bringing fire and division among us, over that, the meaning of our times. It’s hard, right now, to read this long, fiery... Read more

Harambe recently polled at 5% in a presidential preference survey by Public Policy Polling.  If you don’t know, Harambe was a gorilla in the Cincinnati Zoo, and was killed when a 3 year old climbed into his enclosure. The survey question (#10) was: If the candidates for President were Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Trump, Independent Harambe, who would you vote for? And the responses were: Hillary Clinton     48% Donald Trump     43% Harambe                 5% Not Sure                  4% This year’s candidates... Read more

In the gospels are several versions of Jesus’ wedding banquet story: in one the guests don’t show up so the ordinary nobodies of this world get invited in. In another, the bridegroom comes late, so half the bridesmaids (and there were twenty – oh my!) take off to go shopping, sure they have enough time, and they then are late, the wedding is underway, and the door locked. In this week’s tale, the bridegroom is late getting home from the... Read more

The DNC was a star-studded event. Broadway stars. movie stars, music stars, political stars, retired generals, Mother Emmanuel Church survivors, all came to the podium and all delivered heartening speeches. Some were even moving. But on the last night, a couple of unknown gold-star parents came out to speak.  I had no expectations. A couple in late middle-age, they were neither beautiful nor stunningly well dressed. Mrs. Khan wore a Muslim head scarf, and stood supportively beside her husband, who... Read more

Tell my brother to gimme my share of the money, said the man in the crowd to Jesus. And why not? After all, Jesus told a lot of stories about guys, gals too, who didn’t get a fair shake in life, and he was always on their side. There was the guy who wasted all his inheritance on wine, women, and song, he got to come home again. So why wouldn’t Jesus side with a guy who hadn’t even had... Read more

Well, we all knew Hillary was going to be portrayed as Cruella de Vil at the GOP convention. We knew this because she was already being labelled in devilish ways, so who didn’t expect more of that? But – Lucifer?  C’mon,guys. It’s standard practice, if folks are fighting over what the common good is, then you try to unite them around an evil they all know. But – Lucifer?  Really? Saul Alinsky, who actually was a pretty darn good non-violent... Read more

Persistence ranks pretty high in Jesus’ list of values. He talks about it a lot. The importunate widow, in his tale, wins over the unjust judge because her persistence becomes a nuisance to him, and to get rid of her, he gives her justice. And there are the ill who, despite years of suffering, still have hope. In this week’s reading, Jesus offers us the neighbor, already in bed, who will give you what you need, not because of friendship,... Read more

A century ago, our country was ramping up for WWI. The goal: to save the world for democracy. My father used to say US flags first appeared in churches after WWI, when we thought we had saved the world from despots and monarchs, saved the world for democracy. All that death and all that misery, the worst the world had ever known till then, had somehow made the world more holy. Or so we thought, till WW2. Soon after WWI,... Read more

If any can show us the courage it takes to choose the good portion – to leave the world that says you cannot ever go farther than the kitchen door, that says your portion is to clean up the mess and feed the rest of us, that says your job is to satisfy our wants, that says you are have no right to sit in the presence of God – if any can show us that courage, it is Black... Read more

Law. In the Bible law exists in Covenant and Codes. These originated in different times and places, for different reasons. They exist to define  and to redefine the People of God. The Great Law, the Ten Commandments, is also the holiest of laws, the oldest definition of People of God. It appears twice, in Exodus 20: 2-17 and in Deuteronomy 5. Other law collections vary in age and era. The earliest are the Laws of the Covenant in Exodus 20:... Read more