Curl the fingers to brush back bangs Consider the vast bald blank canvass The tiny head in the crook of daddy’s arm The elder, furrowed and somewhat dry The youth, oily and acned The head of shame, bowed but present The face of pride, confident that others are more mortal The heads not there The heads not in the game The eyes caught emotional and weeping The eyes averting, too much soul to bear The ashes, crumbled, crumbling Caught under... Read more
To my Methodist friends: I’m really sorry. We see you, and hear your pain. Praying for all of us as we advocate for marriage equality in the church and LGBTQ+ clergy in our pulpits. Remember that really and truly so many of us have learned to be better Christians because of you. Remember that line of Edwin Friedman: “You have not accomplished change until you have survived the sabotage.” Remember that we are in full communion with you, so your pain... Read more
George Santayana wrote in The Life of Reason, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Although I find the quote memorable, I do not know if I completely agree with Santayana. I find a quote of Winston Churchill more compelling on the loss of the past, that it would introduce “the most thoughtless of ages. Every day headlines and short views” (House of Commons, 16 November 1948). A while back, our family spent a few days... Read more
Crucified between two thieves named Canada and Mexico the one penitent and contrite the other mocking and cold as hell ‘Merica calls out to Father God “Help me in my unbelief” “Father, I have sinned” “Invest. Invest. Invest. Invest.” The crowd is of two minds With ‘Merica it’s always thus Half cry out, “He deserved this.” The other, “Help the poor guy.” Some time later, the blood and gore stinking up the ground and poles Jesus takes... Read more
Certain moments in our lives leave us open to new beginnings. In each of these moments, we evaluate our lives and consider new habits and direction. We make space in our lives, letting go of old ways and initiating new ones. I find these are good times for new people to visit church, and for established members to recommit to regular worship. New people visit our church almost every week, but these “new start” times see a much higher number... Read more
In a lot of church circles folks distinguish between community activism and pastoral ministry. A lot of this conversation has to do with walls–how much of ministry is done inside vs. outside the walls of the church. Thing is, social justice activism and much of congregational ministry occurs outside the walls of the church. If I visit someone at the hospital, it’s quite comparable to spending an evening at the quorum court meeting. If I take communion to someone at... Read more
Let’s talk about this, y’all. Since gender identity and fluidity are a big part of the national discourse lately, and also in the churches, it makes sense for us to consider the relationship between Jesus Christ as the Incarnation of the Word, and intersexuality. First disclaimer: I write this with the full intention of supporting those of varying gender identities, and as a Christian am opposed on moral and theological grounds to discrimination against anyone based on their gender identity.... Read more
How did we get here, Lenny? I grew up in this church, the same denomination in which we now serve as colleagues. This was rural eastern Iowa in the 1970-80s. I knew one black family in my high school, the daughter of the police chief. I grew up hearing, learning, and sometimes telling racist jokes. I can’t remember when I started to realize it wasn’t okay to tell such jokes, but I got there, unfortunately later than I should have.... Read more
In a nation as steeped in civil religion as ours, inevitably the top administration has an operative if not explicit court theology, perhaps even a specific court theologian. Many analysts of the Obama administration noted, for example, that Obama was in many ways his own theologian, and deeply influenced by Reinhold Niebuhr in particular. Although Obama departed from Niebuhrian Christian realism in practice at times, there is deep continuity between Obama’s overall approach to governance and Niebuhr’s thought. Obama was also accused of being influenced... Read more
Tonight I’m a guest speaker at a sustainability class at the University of Arkansas. I’m supposed to spend about 40 minutes giving the students context for Christianity’s (lack of) commitment to ecological issues (creation care), including our local congregation’s sustainability practices. Count this post as a miniature summary of the presentation, with some links I hope students can access post-class. Confession First, I will have to confess to the students that Christian communities at least in Western Christianity have much... Read more
Clint Schnekloth
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