Love is not enough. I’m a pastor, so I’m not supposed to say that. As a minister of the gospel, I’m supposed to say that love “bears all, believes all, endures all,” etc. That love conquered the grave. The love is made perfect in Christ, and therefore perfects us all. Love will keep us together. Love lifts us up where we belong. Love is all you need. At some point, it all starts to sound the same, and it all... Read more
I am writing a book about family values–not the James Dobson kind, that are dependent on your family being a man+woman+2.5 kids+terrier. I’m writing about the kinds of values that do not rely on compliance with rigid gender roles, or a particular expression of “right belief.” They are values that each unique family and faith community can discuss, apply, and live with intention, to find meaning and greater connection. The value that I’m struggling to articulate today is: justice. We say... Read more
Guest post: by Ed Cyzewski Do you have any moments from your past that make you cringe or recoil in fear and shame? I have a running list of these moments that range from times I publicly embarrassed myself in front of friends and family to the times I’ve deeply wounded friends and family with my own selfishness and anger. I can whip myself into a frenzy of guilt and shame with remarkable efficiency. One afternoon I sat down to... Read more
Hi, my name is Erin and I’m a feminist. I am also a Christian who believes in the sanctity of life; and I am deeply unsettled by the number of pregnancies that are terminated in America every year. I believe life begins at conception, and that any loss of life is tragic. However–I also know that my opinion on that matter comes from a place of privilege. I’ve never lived in poverty or worried how I would feed myself–much less child.... Read more
On Friday, I got a Holy Spirit memo that the message I started on Monday was not the right one for Sunday. That’s how it goes sometimes. So today, we’re going to have a Good News Sunday. It would do us all some good, and it might do the world some good, to focus on all the ways people are doing ok; all the glimpses of light breaking through the cracks out there. Your Mission today— is to not lose... Read more
Since last week’s horrific shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, many pastors have offered words of comfort for the victims’ families; words denouncing violence and gun culture; and prayers for a more peaceful world. Then, there’s those other guys. “Pastors,” so-called, in Florida, and Texas, who have said unspeakably hateful things about the LGBT community; who have publicly prayed that God might “finish the job” and kill the rest of them; and some other terrible things that I’m not going... Read more
Just to recap… Conservative leaders are running on platforms of “zero tolerance” for terrorism–and Muslims in general, as though that is all the same thing. And yet, those same leaders voted today that it’s A-OK for people on the FBI no-fly list to buy weapons of mass destruction. Because perhaps the FBI is just being twitchy when they say these folks are a threat to society. Because rights. And freedom. You know the drill. Here is what I now know: when this country’s... Read more
A powerful guest post from my college friend, Shawn McGuffey. An important read that needs to be shared far and wide–and I’m proud to share it here. “They want us dead. I’m gay. They want us dead.” This morning I woke up smiling. Laughing. And making jokes with my partner. While morning laughter is usually as routine for us as eating and brushing teeth, it was notable today because we have not done so since the tragic massacre in Orlando this past... Read more
A guest post: by Rev. Elizabeth Grasham My ex-husband calls my cellphone once a week to talk to our son. In and of itself, that would probably sound normal to any person who lives with a custody agreement, post-divorce. Except the first person my son hears when he answers the phone is not his dad; it’s a voice recording. “You are about to receive a prepaid phone call from [XXXX], an inmate housed at the [XXXX] Unit. If you still... Read more
Another day, another mass shooting. Another opportunity for political propaganda-ing and moral posturing and “we’ll keep them in our prayers-ing” that amounts to exactly nothing, as long as they are all too cowardly to stand up to the gun lobby that is the boss of everything. This cowardice, for the record, is a bipartisan sin. Yesterday’s shooting in Orlando is the biggest in U.S. history, which is not the kind of superlative you want to be winning, not by a long... Read more
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