It’s not often that I connect the Sunday lectionary with my observations here. But The parable of tares, or weeds (Mt 13:24-30, 35-43) offers wisdom for the circumstances we face today. For reference, here is the text: The Parable of the Weeds 24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds[a] among the wheat and went... Read more
There has been more than one article of late that rightly describes the progressive politics of our day as a religion. And there is a good case to be made for that perspective. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, progressive political voices have offered up a theology of sin, an approach to repentance, and – in fairly open-ended terms – a vision of a perfected future. For those who like theological labels, that’s a hamartiology, soteriology and eschatology. There... Read more
Some years ago, serving as Canon Educator at Washington National Cathedral, I was asked to host visitors from the Middle East. There were five or six of them, all a part of the Meridian Institute, a program sponsored by the United States Information Agency. Their focus was religion in America and, in particular, the relationship between church and state. The conversation was intrinsically confusing for my guests. After all, there I was, an Episcopal priest, dressed in clerics, serving a... Read more
An increasing number of articles have been written to address the challenges of leading today’s church. Many focus on the Covid-19 epidemic and not long ago, my own seminary sponsored a panel discussion devoted to the specific challenges that arose out of the protocols put in place by our hospitals. More recently, writers have turned their attention to the issues arising from the racial tensions that were surfaced by the murder of George Floyd. Many of those articles have been... Read more
In order to understand the relationship between Christian spirituality and engagement with the needs of the world, one must begin by recognizing that for most of 1500 years, the two were part of the whole. The journey inward led to a journey outward, or to put it another way, one’s relationship with God and one’s relationship with others are inextricably linked to one another. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament this principle is a constant. The... Read more
I spent a bit of time today listening to Ms. Sara Houranpay describe the destruction of her family’s restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Her family immigrated to the United States thirty years ago and in a matter of minutes their restaurant was destroyed. It is located in a racially and ethnically diverse neighborhood, and the restaurant has a reputation for welcoming people from every walk of life. There were no police there to protect them. One patrol car passed by but... Read more
The four thugs in uniform who committed murder today do not represent me. They do not represent the people of Minnesota or this nation. They do not represent white people. They represent what happens when people become their own gods. People who act out of hatred and cruelty. People who lust after dominance and power. People who hide behind and pervert justice. They are the people who live in every generation, who exploit the defenseless and call cruelty courage. They... Read more
In breaking news, it has been revealed that in 1998, Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, defended slavery and condemned the bravery of Harriet Tubman. An article from the Religious News Service resurrects the conversation and the context for Mohler’s remarks: On June 12, 1998, Mohler was a guest on “Larry King Live,” along with the Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. and Patricia Ireland, then-president of the National Organization for Women, to discuss the Southern Baptist Convention’s... Read more
“Is the Resurrection a sequel or a reversal?” At first glance, one might think it is a sequel. Over two thousand years later, most people think of the Resurrection as one event in a set of three. We often hear people talk about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as three saving moments. Others emphasize the death, resurrection and ascension as the critical events in Jesus’s life. And, if by sequel, one means “events in a sequence”... Read more
For some time now, I’ve been thinking a good deal about the importance of cultivating the virtue of fortitude as a dimension of spiritual formation in the modern seminary. The spread of Covid-19 has added focus to that reflection. Many clergy have waded into the challenges posed by this pandemic and have provided solid leadership for their congregations. But, at the same time, a vocal handful have publicly rehearsed how stressed and disillusioned they are by the demands that... Read more
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