By In October 1983, two dozen peace activists gathered in Philadelphia as war raged in Nicaragua. U.S.-backed forces known as contras were carrying out a campaign of terror and mayhem against the civilian population. A woman from North Carolina, who had led a church delegation to the embattled country three months before, reported that while she and her colleagues were there the mortar attacks, kidnappings, and massacres had temporarily ceased. What to do? Continue reading “Making a Difference”
Category: Uncategorized
When Networking Goes Wrong: The Trouble With “Come Meet a Black Person”
By Jyarland Daniels, CEO and Founder of Harriet Speaks
I wish we lived in a world where I didn’t have to write this blog post. But, alas, when bad ideas arise, some people need an explanation for why the idea is bad and we should just throw the entire thing away. So, here goes… For 400 years – before and since Emancipation — among Black people, there have been differing ideas on how to get free; on how to escape the system of racism that exists as a web, touching all aspects of our existence from cradle to grave. There have been those who have advocated patience, hoping that the oppressors would change their ways. There have been those like Harriet Tubman who, while willing to work with white people who supported her cause, did not seek to change the minds of her captors. Tubman, and others like her, simply took their freedom and invited other enslaved persons who understood that their humanity was neither something to be given by another nor had to be earned, to join their efforts. Today, too, those differences remain. The latest example of how to get free can be found in a networking event just outside of Atlanta, Georgia, created by a Black person, inviting white people to, “Come Meet a Black Person.” Continue reading “When Networking Goes Wrong: The Trouble With “Come Meet a Black Person””
Song for Autumn
By Mary Oliver In the deep fall
don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think
of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.
How to Grieve
By Kill the crows
encircling your head
save for the one with the blackened mouth
–he will guide your soul later on.
Pluck the feathers;
swallow half,
quill and all,
and with the rest create a bed. Continue reading “How to Grieve”
Wild Lectionary: Look to the Acorns
Photo Credit: Laurel Dykstra
Proper 28(33) A
Pentecost + 24
Matthew 25:14-30
By Ragan Sutterfield
I have been spending my mornings in the woods lately, a short hike before I begin to work on the tasks of the day. As fall finally arrives here in Arkansas the juncos have returned, twittering as they flash the white of their tails, and the long metallic notes of white-throated sparrows echo in the understory. Each step along the trails comes with a crunch, not only of the newly fallen leaves, but also of the acorns, cracking orange against the gray shale of the hillsides. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Look to the Acorns”
Fall Planting
By Rose Marie Berger (23 September 2017)
A poem on the feast day of St. Adamnan,
ninth abbot of Iona
Today, planted scarpered kale
liberated by Grace. Winter comes
to risen beds. Leafy tough, stolen,
abundant delight! Rogation prayers
go in with roots. Ilhui’s garden blessing
Lingers below purple basil, bible leaf,
Mary’s milkweed (for 3 monarchs,
should they arrive). Ilhuicamina
Long-limbed, beautiful, copal skin,
trusting palms
soles to seal the deal. These child-plantings
uprooted, transported, here.
Now let soil hold you. Continue reading “Fall Planting”
I is not understanding human beans
“Giants isn’t eating each other either, the BFG said. Nor is giants killing each other. Giants is not very lovely, but they is not killing each other. Nor is crockadowndillies killing other crockadowndillies. Nor is pussy-cats killing pussy-cats.
‘They kill mice,’ Sophie said.
‘Ah, but they is not killing their own kind,’ the BFG said. ‘Human beans is the only animals that is killing their own kind.’ Continue reading “I is not understanding human beans”
Learning from Laughter and the Trees: Under the Apple Tree Again
By Lydia Wylie-Kellermann
The rain is pouring down with periodic rumbles of thunder. It is cold and the sun has set, but we can tell that there is a need in Isaac’s heart to make this trek. We put on hats and shoes and give into the rain as we walk down the street and into the backyard of my dad’s house.
It’s too dark to see the loosened soil, but we bend down low and Isaac says, “This is where we buried Scatters.” Cedar, who is almost two, bends down too and after a minute looks up at Erinn and says “Meow” and points to the dirt. Erinn says, “Is this where Scatters is? Did he die?” Cedar responds, “Meow die.” Continue reading “Learning from Laughter and the Trees: Under the Apple Tree Again”
See our Christmas cards being made!
Purchase Now!
Sales end November 14.
Lucy and Daniel Wylie-Eggert designed the cover for our Advent book and are also screen printing Christmas cards for us. They have the image of the owl over the moon and it reads below “to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.” Continue reading “See our Christmas cards being made!”
Wild Lectionary: Letting it flow down the creek
Proper 27(32)A
Pentecost + 23
I Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25: 1-13
Keep awake therefore, for you do not know the day or the hour. (Mt 25:13)
…so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. (1 Th 4:13)
By Andrew Hudson
I’m an empty-nester, twice over. I sent my son off to college a couple years ago, and I’m still not through adjusting. And just recently, I had a similar experience, sending off a good, small Mennonite congregation to a new location at the end of my being their interim pastor. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Letting it flow down the creek”
Radical Discipleship 