Because for the real, the raw, and the unimaginable that this day brings… sometimes art is better than scripture. Sometimes our own lived experiences reach us where words on a page don’t quite. Our Good Friday service at Saint Andrew features music and poetic reflections on the 7 last sayings of Jesus on the cross. Here are the original works, written and shared by our members tonight. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do [Luke 23:34] As... Read more
I remember seeing it go by in the blur of rage that was election season: a study by a University of Pennsylvania professor found that people who’d read Harry Potter were less likely to vote for Trump. I guess once you have faced down Lord Voldemort and lived to tell about it, you know a Death Eater when you see one. And also: you are what you read. The research began as part of a larger study examining how fiction... Read more
He opened up the heavens for us. And he was an atheist. Stephen Hawking long claimed ambivalence about faith. He said that, while there might in fact be a God, the universe was fully explained by science. Creation did not rely on a Creator, as such. And yet, he spent his whole life looking for answers to our biggest questions about time, space and existence. Even without religious context, he delved more deeply into the “mind of God” than any... Read more
“Really,” he said, “I’m not one for sunflower and birdsong. It’s just too precious, too easy. Gray skies are poetry. Frozen earth is pure scripture. A blizzard is benediction, all that black crystal slicing the air… That’s a living color portrait of the soul. It’s all ice and razors in there, you know.” Then Winter shuddered in his thin coat, and drifted off his lonely way. The shadow of himself hovered above the ground, hesitated, and followed after. The warm wind... Read more
It went down like this: “Mommy, I have a joke for you, listen. How long is a Chinese man?” [with a raised eyebrow and a bit of trepidation] “I don’t know… how long?” “No, that’s the joke… HOW LONG is a Chinese man. Get it?” “Um… that’s a little bit racist. And inappropriate. Don’t repeat it, ok?” “How is that racist?” “Well… It’s making fun of how a certain kind of name sounds. It’s called a microaggression. It’s really making... Read more
Guest Post: Aimee Hicks Graham in-san-ity. noun: The state of madness (synonyms: madness, dementia, lunacy, instability, mania, psychosis) Extreme foolishness or irrationality (synonyms: folly, foolishness, madness, idiocy, stupidity, silliness) “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” I can think of no other word. After Columbine, I was shocked. After Sandy Hook I felt broken. After Parkland, I feel like we are all slowly going insane. Some of the suggestions for how to combat the issue only... Read more
Guest Post: Margot DeGreef It’s a common sight: American church groups traveling in matching t-shirts, with a catchy phrase describing how they are going to help Haiti. Often their help consists of raising money for an orphanage, doing maintenance work at the buildings and playing with the children. After a week the group leaves, feeling transformed and happy to have helped. How helpful is this though? Is volunteering with orphanages a positive way to make a difference? Orphanages supported by well-meaning congregations... Read more
Let’s just get this out of the way: Jesus is not going to fix our gun problem. And if you’re one of the people saying that “only Christ” can save us from this carnage, then you are not just being willfully ignorant: you are complicit in the murder of (how many are up to now?) countless American children who are dying–who just keep dying–in our schools. The shooting in Parkland, Florida yesterday was the 18th of the year. It is... Read more
It was a 3-hour train ride. We didn’t put the armrest down between us, and for most of the ride, we casually leaned on each other. “You know,” I said at some point… “I don’t have many friends I can be this cozy with.” She said, “Me neither, sister,” and we rode on. My friend Shanna and I had been in New York that weekend–for different reasons–and now we were taking the train down to D.C. together for a clergy... Read more
Toyota–good game. Although, would it have killed you to have a woman rabbi or something? J.T– Well-played with that whole Prince thing. Seriously, bravo. But it’s not lost on us that Janet still has a lifetime ban from the Super Bowl, even though you’re the one that ripped her top. So there’s that. Which is to say, the slightest awareness of privilege and pervasive inequality ruins everything; especially the Super Bowl and its commercials. Marketing shapes our culture in more... Read more
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