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Tag Archives: racism
Christ, the King, the way, the truth, the life
Standing before Pilate, Jesus conjures a vision of a kingdom in which the truth is not decided by the preferences of the powerful, nor is justice exacted by violence, nor does the law of the nations have the last word over it. The kingdom that Jesus brings is one in which the love of God stands resolute before the principalities that would lord it over him, and undermines them by refusing to accept the finality of their penalty of death. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, sermon
Tagged apocalypse, Christ the King, Daniel, Kyle Rittenhouse, Pilate, racism, Revelation, what is truth?
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Trinity Sunday: we who are many are one
It is the mutuality of the Trinity that we seek. We hear its echoes in our prayers: “though we are many, we are one body” (Romans 12:5). We come closest to it when we experience compassion. Continue reading
Posted in current events, holy days, sermon
Tagged Amos 5:8, COVID, crossroads, gun violence, John 12:32, John 3:17, John Donne, racism, Romans 12:5, Trinity Sunday
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Let justice roll like a river; still waters can wait
There is no way of praying Psalm 23 truthfully, honestly, lovingly, in this time and place that does not acknowledge that there are no still waters, there can be no resting in meadows, when violence threatens to break in at any moment. There is no peace while injustice holds sway anywhere among us. Continue reading
On judgement
Only the unjust know no shame, and say that because God does not change the dynamic of cause and effect, but lets us lead human lives of substance, agency, and consequence; only the foolish say that this means that God, our Judge and our Redeemer, does not notice nor care what goes on in our hearts, nor in our homes, nor in our nation. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, COVID-19, Jesus, judgement, karma, racism, Year A Proper 28, Zephaniah 1, Zephaniah 3
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Standing up to Stand Your Ground: an open letter
We are not at war with one another. We are not at war with our fellow citizens or other Ohio residents. We do not need a law that assumes an attitude of antagonism between neighbors. Continue reading
Posted in current events, gun violence
Tagged #StandWithOhio, Matthew 26:52, racism, stand your ground laws
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Crumbs
If Jesus was putting on a scene in order to convict his disciples of their own exclusionary, xenophobic, racist, sexist, selfish attitudes towards the woman – “Make her go away!” they say. “Make her stop talking” – then we have yet fully to learn our lesson. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Canaanite woman, difference, Jesus, racism, sexism, Syro-phoenician woman, xenophobia
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Casting out unclean spirits
The kingdom of God is at hand, and it is time, Jesus says, for the demons, the unclean spirits, the powers that oppose the goodness of God to be cast out and cast down. Continue reading
It is too light a thing
We see our fellow godchildren as like us, or not like us, or invisible to us. But it is God’s salvation that we proclaim, and that we claim for ourselves, and God created light to shine from one end of the universe to the other. The light of God’s salvation is for everyone. It is the light which enlightens every body, which lifts every burden, which anoints every wound with healing. Continue reading
Posted in current events, holy days, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged anti-Semitism, immigration, Isaiah 49:6, light, Martin Luther King Jr, Matthew 11:28-30, racism
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Gilroy, guns, and White anger
Red Letter Christians published a piece I wrote reflecting on the uncivil war simmering in the soul of America, one that breaks out all too often in acts of violence like last weekend’s tragedy in Gilroy, California. Continue reading
Posted in current events, gun violence, lectionary reflection
Tagged #Gilroystrong, gun violence, Herod, Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:18, racism, White supremacism
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Prophets and privateers: by their fruits shall ye know them
There is a hardness to the grapes, and a waxiness to the skin of the pear. There is sawdust at the bottom of the bowl, instead of the dusting of peach fuzz that we expected to find. We have been fooled. The fruit is a fake. It is plastic and wood, made only to decorate the room. It is not even a still life. There is no nurture or nutrition in it. It is lifeless. It is a scam. Continue reading
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