The Flawed Understanding of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a radical. He was called “the most dangerous man in America” by the FBI and had a 17,000 page FBI file at the time of his death. ...
A Story Inherited
“Not belonging here” is a story I have inherited, an American inheritance. I am a free person born into an unfree place.
Racist or Antiracist
If I could somehow shape the world, we would eradicate the term 'not racist.' It would force people to recognize that they’re either racist or anti-racist.
A Seed Knows How to Wait
When you go into a forest you probably tend to look up at the plants that have grown so much taller than you ever could. You probably don’t look down, where just beneath your single footprint sits between one hundred and one thousand seeds, each one alive and waiting.
Deciding to Build
The first time I was told that I was too queer to be a congregation's minister, they asked, "What will the neighbors think?,” as if it were the most natural question in the world. ...
There Is No Easier Way
What matters more is that we are willing to live our lives in the shape of what is being asked, not hope that what we are asked to do will fit the shape of our lives.
For the Sake of the Common Good
When we study history, we learn that freedom is rarely freedom for all, and is more often freedom for some at the expense of others. At times, we’re called to surrender some of our freedom in order to serve The Whole.
All of Us Love Poorly Sometimes
All of us love poorly at some point, and infusing our community with ownership and repentance is contagious. Say you’re sorry. Ask forgiveness. This leads not only to stronger relationships but to better humans, and this world needs better humans.
Connection as Resistance
In her 1975 theological treatise Suffering, German liberation theologian Dorothee Söelle* examines the ways that suffering can knit humans beings closer together, and can draw us more fully into the process of loving. She uses the term apatheia, “the inability to suffer,” to describe the...
The Wellspring of Moral Action
The ground of challenging injustice is gratitude, the heartfelt desire to honor the wonder of that which is.
On White Supremacy Culture and Why I Use These Words
It's very uncomfortable for me to read/write/say "white supremacy culture," so it's my way of directly challenging my own right to comfort.
Hello, My Name Is . . .
I am part of a religious community because we promise not to reduce each other to terrible labels, not to strip each other of our humanity, not to ascribe levels of worthiness to one another.
All Water Is Connected
All the water on earth is really one water, continuously flowing through the biosphere. Even if we get water from our kitchen tap, that water has been around the world on its journey. All water is connected, and connects all of life. ...
Spiritual Theft
Don’t try to steal someone else’s culture. Do your own spiritual work. Research the stories of your ancestors. Trace the journeys that brought them to the land where you now reside. Learn the stories of their brokenness and their connections.
Extremists of Justice
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish truth. Through violence you murder the hater, but...