Why did we do all of this celebrating? The spiritual reason is simple. Christmas is a time to celebrate the incarnation of God into the world. Truthfully, I don’t think that most people understand what such a statement means. In our highly religious descriptions of Christmas, we often fail to tell people…Christmas is a time to remember that love was made flesh. The intersection of the divine and the human is always centered on love. The writer of 1... Read more
Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a shepherd? Most of the time you are bored out of your mind. I sit there and watch sheep day after day. I never wanted to be a shepherd. I didn’t have a choice. We have always been poor. We don’t know any other way. I followed what generations before me had done. I did what I had to do to support my family. Do you know what it... Read more
If it was not for your willingness to follow God, I doubt I would be writing. I just received my doctorate from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University for a project entitled, “The Epiphany of the Queer: An Exploration in Theology.” For so many years, you have inspired me to keep going. There are many who would say that a man married to a woman should not be doing queer theology. Often, I try to reason with those... Read more
I apologize for my absence this evening. During these very hours, I am graduating with my doctorate in theology tonight from Texas Christian University. I welcome your prayers as I discern how I can continue to make a difference in our world. When my friend Aleah Dillard told me about this event and asked me to send a few words, I thought about a few questions… Is resurrection possible? Can dead bones come back to life? Is death the final... Read more
Shots rang out. Blood was everywhere. Bodies hit the floor. Children screamed. The images and descriptions of the scene at a school in Pakistan are more than horrific. Over 130 children are dead over an extremist religious ideology. From terrorist attack to terrorist attack, the Taliban have proven that there is no end to the barbarism of their actions. How do we make sense of such a tragedy? Our first inclination is to label those who would commit such... Read more
frances the deepness of the moment the pain rolled down my cheek you can’t live forever right now we can’t speak from the darkness I cry out your voice is like light something seems closer than ever in the gap I hear something death and life are close the hand why? death takes make the best of it you are liar stuck in this place inertia of being blindness of vision being of nothing... Read more
Darkness filled the sky and night was upon me. Throughout my drive to the airport, I thought about the death of my grandmother. I was hurting. The last thing I wanted to do was entertain a former Southern Baptist pastor from California. Though I invited Danny Cortez to speak to multiple groups in North Texas, I just wasn’t in it when I pulled up to the curb at the airport. Danny is an unassuming man small in stature and... Read more
We gather this morning at a difficult hour. I have grown accustomed to gathering in times both good and bad in this very room. The Rock Baptist Church is an ancestral and spiritual home for the Hood family. Many of you have gathered with us over the years. I have done much questioning in these pews. Today is no different. The last few days of my life have been filled with questions. Why would God allow my grandmother to... Read more
The parking lot of a restaurant is an odd place to find out that your grandmother has died. Then again, I guess it is as good a place as any to receive devastating news. The words of my dad are still echoing in my brain, “she died this morning in her favorite chair.” There are few people I have loved more in this life than my grandmother. Without a doubt, Frances Hood was my patron saint. From the earliest of... Read more
Whose streets??? Our streets!!! Whose streets??? Our streets!!! Good evening, my name is Rev. Jeff Hood. I work out of the Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ…the largest LGBT church in the entire world. I serve as the Minister of Social Justice of their social justice ministry Hope for Peace and Justice. Ours is a church that knows a thing or two about police brutality. Our community knows a thing or two about police... Read more
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