A Scandalous Shock to the System

On June 21, 2019June 8, 2019 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

By Wes Howard-Brook and Sue Ferguson Johnson, on this Sunday’s Gospel text (Luke 7:1-10)

*Originally posted on May 27, 2016.

All the dynamics of this week’s passage from Luke’s Gospel are “wrong.” For instance, how are we to imagine Jewish elders in Capernaum speaking on behalf of a Roman centurion? Further, they paint him as the primary patron of their synagogue. And not only this, but the centurion sends the elders to Jesus, at this point in Luke’s narrative, an itinerant preacher and healer with no official authority at all. Finally, Jesus praises the centurion for having a faith that Jesus has not found among the people of Israel. What could be going on here? Continue reading “A Scandalous Shock to the System” →

Wild Lectionary: Guerilla Exegesis

On June 20, 2019June 19, 2019 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation, Uncategorized, Watershed Discipleship2 Comments

9781610974011 Pentecost 2C
The Demon Legion

By Obery Hendricks

An excerpt from “Guerilla Exegesis: ‘Struggle’ As A Scholarly Vocation,” Libertating Biblical Study (Cascade, 2011).

Guerrilla exegesis is transgressive. Irreverent. Asks questions: Silly Wabbit, how can the possessive demonic presence called “Legion” in Mark 5, the occupying presence tht wrought the bitter pathology of oppression in Mark’s community and sought to remain in possession of the country, not the man (v. 10), be anything but the Roman military? Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Guerilla Exegesis” →

Learning from Laughter and the Trees: An Armful of Bones

On June 19, 2019June 17, 2019 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, Uncategorized, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment

By Lydia Wylie-Kellermann

I had never noticed how the melting snow of spring makes way for bones. One May morning, we wake early to walk the few acres of woods in the thumb of Michigan. Every few minutes, someone calls out “over here!” and we all rush over with our eyes on the composting leaves. A spine bone here. A skull there. Teeth still nestled in a jaw bone. A river otter? Fox? Racoon? Isaac tries to fit the bones back together in place and using his overly abundant 6-year-old animal knowledge attempts to determine the mysterious creatures. Later he will riffle through pages of his animal track books for further guessing. Cedar on the other hand just wants to fill his small arms with bones until he has so many he asks me to carry the extras. It’s not my first instinct to hold skulls in my hand with any delight or ease. Continue reading “Learning from Laughter and the Trees: An Armful of Bones” →

Wild Lectionary: First Peoples Day Reflections

On June 18, 2019June 12, 2019 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Identity, and History, Theological Animation, Uncategorized, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment

Metis-elder-Ken-Pruden4-7028-1024x681(1) On June 21 Canadians celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day and many churches observe a day of prayer. Rene Inkster reflects on the readings appointed for the Anglican Church.

Isaiah 40:25-31
Psalm 19
Philippians 4:4-9
John 1:1-18

I pray that my words will be acceptable to You, Creator; and to the people who read them.

Psalm 19:7-9

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean; the ordinances of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

Bowsur, tawnchi, hello. I am a mixed blood person, born in Regina, Saskatchewan and also a Canadian history researcher. My name is Rene Inkster. I honour my Cree, Scottish and Métis heritage. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: First Peoples Day Reflections” →

The Sources We Choose

On June 17, 2019June 15, 2019 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological Animation1 Comment

This is the conclusion of an essay in The Guardian written by Donna Murch, professor of history at Rutgers University and author of the prize-winning book Living for the City: Migration, Education and the Rise of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California. Murch reflects on a controversial essay recently published by the American historian David Garrow in a conservative British magazine about alleged sexual misconduct of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Garrow utilizes FBI records that will not be released to the public until 2027.

…it is worth thinking about what lessons can be drawn from the larger historical debate. The most obvious is the importance of responsibly using state sources, particularly those from law enforcement and intelligence agencies that may be actively involved in shaping the events they purport to represent. Given the vast expansion of policing, incarceration and surveillance in the US over the past half century, this concern extends well beyond the particulars of Garrow’s claims. Continue reading “The Sources We Choose” →

The Day Dad Vanished

On June 16, 2019June 16, 2019 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation4 Comments

Dennis Airey (1941-2015) South Bend, Indiana (2014)

By Tommy Airey

“Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.”–Luke 24:31

The night before Dad vanished, I caught him in his office watching the Oregon State Lady Beavers on his desktop computer. His alma mater’s women’s basketball team was ranked in the top five and he wasn’t going to miss the action while Mom and Lindsay bogarted the TV in the living room.

The next morning, I woke up fifteen minutes earlier than he did. I fetched the paper and brewed the coffee. But I waited for Dad to make the oatmeal. Just like he always did when we visited. We usually started these days together. In silence. I would read Scripture and journal in the dining room while he read the LA Times in the kitchen. Sports page first, just like he taught me. Continue reading “The Day Dad Vanished” →

We Sat up There Singing “This Little Light of Mine”

On June 15, 2019June 5, 2019 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

An excerpt from a New York Times interview with Dr. Cornel West.

What is distinctive about our moment is the relative cowardliness of the liberal and neoliberal middle. The right wing in the last 10 to 15 years has simply become more visible, but they don’t constitute the vast majority of the people. What you do have is a neoliberal and liberal center that is so weak and feeble, so cowardly and milquetoast, that they don’t have the enthusiasm or the energy that the right wing has.

You know, when I was in Charlottesville, they looked at me in the eye and I looked at them in the eye. They got their guns, their ammunition, they got their gas masks on, and we sat up there singing “This Little Light of Mine.” Continue reading “We Sat up There Singing “This Little Light of Mine”” →

The Realities of a Democratized Base

On June 14, 2019June 13, 2019 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological AnimationLeave a comment

From the Front Porch of Mother Ruby Sales (June 11, 2019).

Dear Speaker Pelosi,

You continually say that impeachment will divide the country. Madame Speaker the country is already divided from White nationalism and White heterosexist elitist White Christian patriarchy.

Further there can not be unity when Trump carries out a reign of terror against Black and Brown adult and child refugees who seek refuge at the gates of US. Nor can there exist unity when Black women’s babies are dying at the birthing stool from medical neglect in a medical industrial complex where our bodies matter less than all other women. Continue reading “The Realities of a Democratized Base” →

Wild Lectionary: The Trinity, An Invitation

On June 13, 2019June 17, 2019 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation, Uncategorized, Watershed Discipleship2 Comments

il_fullxfull.1697253059_vwcz — The Trinity, Andrei Rublev, 15^th C

Trinity Sunday C

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Psalm 8:4-9
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

By Rev. Dr. Victoria Marie

Several years ago, Sarah and I were on a Global Awareness Through Experience or GATE program in Mexico. One of the places we visited was a café-general store and guest house in Cholula (Mexico) run by an Aztec family. While we were chatting with owner’s daughter, our GATE program director asked her, if God was male or female in Aztec theology. Her answer gave me one of those “Yes!” moments. She said, “God is neither male nor female. God is energy.” The gods and goddesses in the Aztec pantheon are aspects of the Divine Energy that attends to a specific need of the people at a specific point in cyclical time, for example, harvest time or during drought , etc. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: The Trinity, An Invitation” →

Mothering as Discipleship

On June 12, 2019August 13, 2019 By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

58373625_10109215327077547_3301167968863387648_n Re-shared from Bartimeaus Cooperative’s newsletter.

At Farm Church on Mother’s Day, Charletta Erb talked with Erin H, mother of Gabriel (5 years) and Lucia (4 months),about mothering as discipleship, as part of our occasional “biography as theology” reflections.

Is motherhood a spiritual act for you?

Since Lucia’s birth my space has been physically grounded, happily reclusive, narrow, and defined by the predictable cycle of a baby’s needs. At times I find myself fighting it, or wanting my own space, but then I release (often with the help of nursing) and can relax into it as I remember this is such a short season. Then I just stare in wonder at my children. Mothering is a discipline, like training for a century or iron man, or like sitting in meditation for hours: painful and repetitive, yet so rewarding, with fleeting moments of nirvana or bliss. Continue reading “Mothering as Discipleship” →