The dying can really teach the living the power of being. Then again, I guess we are all dying whether we grasp it or not. Perhaps in this moment of time, we might all be better served if we were dying. For in the realization that we are dying, we gain an ability to truly live. This is a sermon about pushing past fear to a space of being. The great theologian Paul Tillich spoke of gaining the... Read more
in the end these three remain faith fullness of finding assuming no answers intensities of impossibilities total transformations highlighting the hidden hope heal the hate opposition to oppression past power equalities for everywhere love laugh the loudest opportunities for the other victorious vastness effective beyond earth but the greatest of these is love last of varied existences Read more
Empathy is a challenging word. What does it mean to attempt to try to understand or relate to the feelings and pain of another? I was sitting at an event in Dallas tonight when someone declared empathy to be an act of imagination. I was moved by these words and wondered where I lack imaginative empathy. I think it is true that if we begin to empathize and thus struggle with others then we are able to free our self... Read more
In our first gathering as a church, we spent time wrestling with what it means to be created queer in the image of a Queer God. We explored what it looks like to birth the Queer from within following the example of Jesus. We dreamed of what it looks like for the Queer Spirit to guide us in queering the world. We are a new church learning and experiencing many new things. Today, we will discuss the space from... Read more
Welcome to the year of living dangerously! On this day I begin with a dangerous question…What type of God will we give Quinley? What type of God will we give to this tiny baby that we have just baptized? The answer to this or that question is the same answer to the question…What type of God will we give our self? For surely our highest wishes for this baby here should also be our highest wishes for our self. ... Read more
This is Quinley Mandela Dillard Hood…a child of the living God. On this day we have gathered to pour water over the head of this child as an outward symbol of an inward grace that has sealed his name and person in love for all time and beyond. Quinley you were and will forever be created by a God that loves you. Quinley you were and will forever be redeemed by a God that loves you.... Read more
This morning we celebrate and remember the visit of the wise men or wise persons or wise women or wise folks to the home of a young Jesus. The wise folks came from the east or from deeper into what we now call Asia. They followed a star in the sky with a firm belief that there was going to be something mysterious and amazing at the end of their journey. Most nativity scenes would have you... Read more
This letter is the first in a series of letters that Texas Death Row Inmate Will Speer and I are writing to create a theology from death row. Will and I have known each other since June 2013 and visit in person once a month. In our last visit, we decided we wanted to do something more substantive with our letters. The first topic is the nature of God and Will will respond to my letter. Next month, Will... Read more
On the way to church tonight, I drove past many churches large and small filling up with people. I would imagine that most of the pastors of these churches will begin their sermons with some variation of, “Over two thousand years ago in a town called Bethlehem a child was born…” Throughout my life, I have heard similar Christmas Eve sermons. Surprisingly, I never grow tired of them. For me, there is something quite magical about calling the attention... Read more
Over two thousand years ago in a stable filled with shit, Mary cried out with loud labor pains. While all the shepherds and angels were singing in the fields outside of town, Mary was pushing out a baby. If she was anything like my wife Emily, I know there were moments that she wanted to stop. Yet Mary pushed through and gave birth. In an instance…Mary’s pain turned to joy…for in her arms rested perfect hope, justice, peace and... Read more
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