It seems I’m always on the schedule to preach on Trinity Sunday no matter what church I’m in. Since I find the Trinity to be among the coolest insights of Christian theology, I appreciate this. It is something to be repeatedly reminded of. Every year, I deliver roughly the same sermon on Trinity Sunday for this reason: we need this reminding. The Trinity is often confusing to people (for decades, it was for me). Because we often don’t get it,... Read more
“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” ― Barbara Kingsolver In 2017 after Trump became president, I started reading Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism. The book felt chillingly heartbreakingly shatteringly timely. At the moment, many viewed parallels between Trump’s ascendance and historical ascensions of authoritarianism... Read more
Among his last words to his disciples in John, Jesus says, “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” I admire how Bishop Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, boils down the proclamation of Jesus to one key: The Way of Love. Love is the center. But what does this “love” look like exactly? The word... Read more
{Originally published before Supreme Court’s ‘Dobbs Decision’}. I’ve pondered hard what to write regarding the probable striking down of abortion rights by the US Supreme Court, because the issue of abortion is not black and white. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be the most contentious topic of public debate in our country, and people wouldn’t hold the nuanced views they do. The fact is, the majority of Americans dohold views that are nuanced—not black and white. According to recent... Read more
I recently heard a Vox podcast about regret. The interviewee, Daniel Pink, wrote a book on the subject, reflecting on regret’s transformative power. Regret is an emotion that—if we face it honestly—has the potency to turn us around, to make us go another way. We’ve all been there. When I look back to times I’ve done wrong, it isn’t the stereotypical slip-ups that stand out to me—the sex, lies, or other excesses held up as “the bad sins” in our... Read more
{I wrote this essay about our common fragility during early days of the pandemic. The feelings it brings back! But lately I’m struck anew by our common experience of and encounter with fragility as we observe the war in Ukraine, as we watch the West change almost overnight while war is waged on behalf of democracy and national sovereignty, and as Europe-US relations evolve apace. Let us not forget ‘how fragile we are,’ how much we need each other—not only... Read more
I am moved by the story in Luke 22:14-23:56 [lectionary during week this essay was originally published]. This long tale from the week of Jesus’ passion is revealing about the ways we humans get things wrong and the remarkable ways we are embraced anyway—guided and loved into fullness of being despite mistakes. In Luke’s version of this story, what is emphasized again and again is how Jesus’ closest followers and friends just don’t get it. Whereas some characters who aren’t supposed... Read more
“Being a Christian involves living within the tradition and letting it shape our lives. It means letting these stories have their way with us.” Marcus Borg (emphasis added) What a rich piece of storytelling is John 12: 1-8 [lectionary the week this essay was originally published]. It has everything: a familial friendship; a reference to someone being raised from the dead; the sensuality of a woman dousing a man’s feet with perfume and wiping it off with her hair; a thieving villain thick... Read more
I am irritated at all the weighing in on Smith’s slap, and here I am weighing in. But there is something to say I have not heard. Will Smith is mega-famous and wealthy because we (the American/global audience) have paid him to star in big-budget action movies in which he portrays “the myth of redemptive violence,” which may be the true American mythological story/religion. Americans love the myth of redemptive violence—the story that all conflicts are ultimately solved by the... Read more
Talk about an obscure reading! [Luke 13:1-9; lectionary from week this essay was originally published.] On first read, it can boggle the mind and confuse. It’s easy to misread, thinking Jesus is essentially saying: bad things happen to people because they deserve it, and if you don’t straighten up, bad things will happen to you. But he’s saying something quite different. In the story scene, the crowd references two chilling events of the period. In one, Roman soldiers have killed Galileans—often disdained... Read more
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