Behind the Scenes

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baptismal
Detroit, MI

By Tommy Airey, a homily preached at The Abbey Church (Victoria, BC) on Sunday, January 20, 2019

“When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from…” (John 2:9a)

Theologian Kelly Brown-Douglas explains that when the earliest slaves in America listened to the reading of the Bible, they heard the voice of “The Great High God”—the free, sovereign divinity they knew well from their African heritage. This was the creator God who was far greater than humans and all “the lesser gods” in the universe. This is the God defined by Steadfast Love in this morning’s Psalm: in this Higher Power, there is refuge and abundance, feasting and drinking from the river of delight. Continue reading “Behind the Scenes” →

Radical Surrender and Commitment to ‘Your Thread’

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

marciaBy Marcia Lee (Detroit, MI)

*This is the fourth installation of a year-long series of posts from contributors all over North America each answering the question, “How would you define radical discipleship?” We will be posting responses regularly on Mondays during 2019.

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
William Stafford Continue reading “Radical Surrender and Commitment to ‘Your Thread’” →

Martin Luther King, the Beloved Community and the Socialist Idea

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Subverting Empire, Theological Animation1 Comment

obery hendricksA classic from theologian Obery Hendricks, re-posted from The Huffington Post (May 2, 2014).

I speak the password primeval…I give the sign of democracy; By God! I will accept nothing which all cannot have their counterpoint of on equal terms.
Walt Whitman

Recently on The Huffington Post I explored Martin Luther King’s rejection of capitalist logic and his endorsement of Democratic Socialism as an antidote to the ills and injustices inherent to the capitalist system he so fervently opposed. These include capitalism’s subordination of human welfare to the pursuit of profits; its transformation of greed from Christianity’s Third Mortal Sin to the preeminent capitalist virtue (based on a selective reading of Adam Smith); and its rejection of the biblically-mandated responsibility to “love your neighbor as yourself,” i.e., to care for society’s poor and vulnerable. In addition to the consternation that I would dare to use Martin Luther King and “socialism” in the same sentence, a number of readers also seized on King’s endorsement as confirmation of the old charge that he was a Communist sympathizer. Continue reading “Martin Luther King, the Beloved Community and the Socialist Idea” →

Tone Policing

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn RaceLeave a comment
Oluo
PC: SeattleSpectator.com

From The Sun Magazine‘s brilliant interview with Ijeoma Oluo author of the recently released So You Want to Talk about Race:

Tone policing is when someone disputes a statement by focusing on how it was said, not on its content. It’s when you’re told to “calm down” or “be more ladylike” or “be less emotional.” The person who’s suffering has to express their experience in a way white people will accept before whites are willing to listen. You all think you’re a better judge of what’s proper than black people are, and that you have the authority to deem our complaints invalid. Your comfort level is more important to you than stopping the brutality we’re facing. Continue reading “Tone Policing” →

An Indivisible Pedagogy and Theology of Somebodiness

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Subverting Empire1 Comment

rubyAnother brilliant epistle from the front porch of Ruby Sales. 

On this day as we remember King please accept this gift of recapitulation, restoration and remembrance of a southern African American story.

Every year I listen in absolute horror as White liberals rob King of his connection and roots to the Black South. His are deep roots as are mine that extend all the way back to the first organized non-violent southern freedom grassroots movement when members of the community of enslaved Africans ran away. He and I descend from enslaved ancestors who fashioned a radical and liberating Black folk theology in southern fields where they were forced under state sanctioned violence to labor like beasts of burden to enrich the economic lifestyles of southern Whites. In the heat of those fields they carved out a theology of pragmatic optimism that blended their transcendental impulse –ancestors’ aspirations — with transactional acts of resistance and accommodation towards citizenship. The folk impulse of our enslaved ancestors radically departed from the White transactional view of us as property to our transcendental view of our being children of God and therefore legitimate heirs of the promise of democracy.
Continue reading “An Indivisible Pedagogy and Theology of Somebodiness” →

Wild Lectionary: Married to the Land

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315093_10150333054956366_927635786_n
Vikki Marie has been listening to and collaborating with Indigenous people for many years, here she is with Western Shoshone leaders at the Navada Desert Test Site in 2011.

Second Sunday after Epiphany
Ordinary Time C
Isaiah 62:1-5
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11

By Rev. Dr. Victoria Marie

Today’s readings speak to me of several related themes God’s love and God’s love of justice; our gifts and the gifts of others; to use our gifts in the service of the Creator; and, of our need to remember to trust and have faith. In this homily(-starter), I wish to plant seeds for reflection through giving snippets of my thought on the readings. Continue reading “Wild Lectionary: Married to the Land” →

Send me

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation, UncategorizedLeave a comment

imagesBy Ken Sehested

It was a time of great turmoil in the land. The Spirit of God bypassed all the famous leaders and came to me with a dream.

And I saw the Ruler of All Creation sitting on a throne, high and lofty, with majesty filling the sky as far as the eye could see.

Angels filled the air, shouting, “Holy, holy, holy! Just and Righteous and Merciful is God’s name!” Continue reading “Send me” →

Letter from an editor

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Biography as Theology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

geez logoDear Radical Discipleship community,

I write with some exciting news that I long to share with this community of readers and contributors who have been and will continue to be a resting place for me.

It is with delight that I share that over the next few months, I will step into the position of editor at Geez magazine. I am not leaving RadicalDiscipleship.net. These past 4 1/2 years cultivating RD have been such a gift to connect with so many of you and share powerful stories from those with hands and hearts in the struggle. I love working with Tommy on this project and we hope that it will continue for many years to come. Continue reading “Letter from an editor” →

The Heirloom Seeds of an Ancient and Profoundly Relevant Faith

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Subverting Empire, Theological Animation, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment

sngBy Rev. Solveig Nilsen-Goodin (right), a pastor, parent, author and organizer in Portland, OR

*This is the third installation of a year-long series of posts from contributors all over North America each answering the question, “How would you define radical discipleship?” We will be posting responses regularly on Mondays during 2019.

As is often quoted within Radical Discipleship circles, ‘Radical’ comes from the Latin: radix, meaning root — getting to the root causes, the root pressures, the roots of our faith. Yes! Let’s get to the roots!

But today as I reflect on what Radical Discipleship means to me, and why it is necessary in the first place, I want to talk about seeds. Continue reading “The Heirloom Seeds of an Ancient and Profoundly Relevant Faith” →