By Ken Sehested
Bread-baking, kitchen-dwelling, breast-feeding God,
We return to your lap and to your table
because we are hungry and thirsty.
Fill us again
with the bread that satisfies,
with milk that nourishes.
Drench parched throats with wet wonder; Continue reading “Bread-baking God”
By Randy Woodley, re-posted with permission from the Ethnic Space and Faith blog
There are stark differences between the worldviews of Indigenous peoples and those whose worldviews developed with the influence of Western Europe. The “age of discovery” brought the Europeans to our Indigenous shores. Many of those theologians and discoverers attributed their discoveries to God and then immediately acted in the most ungodly manner. I am willing to concede that the Creator had a hand in the meeting of the two worlds but I think it has been largely misinterpreted by the Western nations and Western religious bodies. These so called “discoveries” created not only wealth by extraction in previously co-sustained Indigenous lands, labor and resources, but they also created perverted national myths and twisted theological accounts of conquest. These myths have continued to be told time and time again, and with each generation they are reified, built upon and codified into our society’s collective mythologies and memories. Continue reading “Resurrecting Ancient Wisdom & Worldview”
By Tommy Airey
Detroit, Michigan
“…because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”—Matthew 11:25b
“This pedagogy makes oppression and its causes objects of reflection by the oppressed, and from that reflection will come their necessary engagement in the struggle for their liberation.”–Paolo Freire, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1972)
Many episodes from the biblical script star the widow, the orphan and the immigrant as a sacred Trinity of sorts. The God known as Steadfast Love consistently compels those who bear the Name to never shame nor blame these three. In fact, in these three, Steadfast Love covenants Herself to Justice, promising to be a swift witness against anyone who oppresses or swears falsely against them. If one’s theology still makes room for hell, this litmus test ought to be included. Continue reading “Entertainment for Angels”
Easter 7(B)
Psalm 1
By Laurel Dykstra
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
The image of large well-watered trees growing larger is used in scripture as a symbol of human prosperity, abundance, and flourishing for individuals (Psalm 92:12-13) and nations (Ezekiel 31). Often the type of tree is unnamed but a significant number are cedars. In an arid landscape shade as a luxury, an association amplified by the biblical equation of cedar wood with wealth. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Planted and Watered”
By Dee Dee Risher
Oh incarnated one,
who is mystery and nurture,
calling our names
while we are outside, weeping;
walking the road
with those who are in grief,
being known in the breaking of bread;
cooking breakfast on the beach… Continue reading “After”
By Jim Perkinson, a homily on John 15:1-8 and Acts 8:26-40 preached last Sunday to the beloved community at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Detroit
I begin by thanking four primary ancestors: my own Celtic, Nordic, Saxon, Frankish kin deep in the past before my people became sick with white supremacy; the African Eve of all of our origins whose black folk offspring of Detroit engaged survival efforts and justice demands and creation-in-spite-of that are nothing short of prophetic and wondrous; the Algonquian and Haudenosaunee communities of the Strait who lived by profound dignity and wisdom on the land and waters; and all the non-human denizens of this place themselves, whose continuous gift makes possible the breathing and loving and struggle of all of us sitting here. For all of them: gratitude. And indebtedness to live, worthy. Continue reading “God in a Grape; Spirit in a Sheep”
Easter 6(B)
John 15:9-17, Psalm 98
I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11
By The Reverend Marilyn Zehr
I stood on the crest of the hill today in that moment of barometric stillness between four days of spring sunshine and an impending afternoon rainstorm. And in the distance I heard the magical flute call of the hermit thrush. Its Mozart-rivaling melodic line threads its way through the forest now and on summer evenings. That wee bird, hard to spot but thrilling to hear, expresses creation’s joy.
Joy can be like that. It can be hard to spot in the midst of the world, as we know it. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Hermit Thrush Joy”
By Ric Hudgens
Easter 5, April 29, 2018
North Suburban Mennonite, Libertyville, Illinois
Acts 4:26-40
“But Philip found himself at Azotus.” (Acts 8:40a)
Philip was on the edge of the edge. What I mean is he was a Greek-speaking Jew in an Aramaic-speaking community that (because of their devotion to Jesus) was on the edge of a Jewish culture that existed as a despised, oppressed minority on the periphery of the Roman Empire. It might be more accurate to say that Philip was on the edge of the edge of the edge – of the edge.
Then the Spirit sent Philip into the wilderness. Far out. Over the edge. Continue reading “Sermon: When You Find Yourself in Azotas”
Re-Posted from Marian Wright Edelman’s CHILD WATCH® COLUMN on the Children’s Defense Fund site. For further reading, see the archive of her weekly writings.
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released last month, “K-12 Education: Discipline Disparities for Black Students, Boys, and Students with Disabilities,” reminds us once again that suspensions and expulsions continue at high rates and offer grave risks to students. The report by this federal monitoring agency reviews data from the Education Department’s Civil Rights Data Collection on school discipline trends across the country, provides a more in-depth look at discipline approaches and challenges faced in five states, and reviews past efforts by the Departments of Education and Justice to identify and address disparities and discrimination. Continue reading “A Disgraceful Race to the Bottom”
Easter 5(B)
By Matthew Syrdal
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you… My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. John 15:1-8
The invitation is clear, the summons real, in this mashal, this rabbinical parable today as it was then. May we let it sink deeply into the soil of the world in our hearts. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Wild Vine”
Radical Discipleship 