From poet, playwright and Yale professor Claudia Rankine, the author of Citizen: An American Lyric, in an interview with The Guardian in December 2015:
Racism is complicated. White people feel personally responsible for racism when they should understand the problem as systemic. It is interfering as much with their lives as with the lives of people of colour. And racism can lodge in them. It isn’t them yet it can become them if they are not taking notice.
From Dr. Wil Gafney, the author of Womanist Midrash (2017), in her podcast interview with Peter Enns and Jared Byas:
If you take seriously that women have heard throughout the centuries that what is masculine in some context is more closely identified with God, that what is feminine is other, and we even go back into church fathers like Tertullian for whom women were the devil’s gateway. I mean, there’s a whole lot of theological work that’s heavily invested in God being male and exclusively male. In fact, there’s a text that says men are the image of God and women are the image of man or something. That sets up a whole world of church and theology that marginalizes women. Yet for people who come out of the community that I did–the black church–for whom it really matters, what does the Bible say? It matters that the biblical text says repeatedly that God’s gender identity is complex. Binary language is used because the Hebrew Bible has two options. Masculine and feminine. But God is presented in a much more complex way. And that matters when we’re talking about people and hierarchy, particularly when those earthly hierarchies are entrenched in gender which is then claimed to be based on God and the Bible.
By James W. Perkinson
He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay; he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure (Ps 40:2).
I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel. (Jh 1:31)
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” (Jh 1:36).
So we sit today in bit of snow here in Motown, while our news feeds show weekly pile-ups of cold precipitation elsewhere across the land—and pile-ups, as well, of twisted metal in our stupid infatuation with cars and speed—as the Great Stream of Jetting Air bends south and brutal, from the Arctic Circle to Arizona, in announcement that Change, with a capital “C’ is not future, but here. And we wonder about the upheaval of an entire planet. Australia become a living kiln, cooking up a billion-fold of living flesh, involuntary offerings to our wanton refusal to heed! In Puerto Rico they sleep outside, as the fracked Earth, heaving from a thousand cuts, here, there, in Oklahoma now grinding Her teeth in warning hundreds of times per year where She used to rest soft and fecund and quiet, but in our little cousin island to the south, slipping and sliding the soil into great fear and one more sheer nightmare. Last time—it was the sea and sky as Maria roared through. Now it is rock and sand, all serving notice they do not plan on being raped and plundered, forever. But it is the poor who are first forced to hear and bear the pain. The rest of us sleep-walk in daylight and pull the covers of night over our oblivious heads. But our time is coming as well, I am afraid. And we are far more culpable. Continue reading “What the Waters Know: Re-Reading John 1:29-42”
A Meaningful Way of Life:
Being an intern at Third Way Farm is a well-rounded, full-bodied experience. Not only does this program deeply immerse a person into the daily rhythms of life on a diversified farm and in the care of its ecosystem, but it also invites participants into a community whose life carries purpose and meaning beyond the confines of the farm itself. Participating in this age-old and ever-critical human work of growing food and caring for the land will open you to pathways of life and wholeness within yourself and the world around you, enriching you in ways that will serve you on whatever journey that lies ahead. Changing the world, amidst the ever complexifying crises of climate change, economic injustice, food justice, and more, begins with remembering and living into who we truly are as humans: members and caretakers of this rich web of abundant, God-given life in Creation. If we learn together how to lovingly nurture the life all around us, growing wholesome food from the soil under our feet and with the animals that enrich it and us, we will not only bless ourselves, our families, and our local community with live-giving food, but will be contributing to the preservation of this world for generations to come. So, we invite you to come, learn, grow, and be transformed with us as an intern at Third Way Farm!
Whether you are considering sustainable agriculture as a vocation or way of life, or are interested in organic farming and just want to have an experience living it for a season, this internship program is for you! Continue reading “Third Way Farm’s Internship Program”
By Jayme R. Reaves. From Geez 56: Entertaining Angels.
When someone says “hospitality,” what comes to mind?
Offering a cup of coffee or tea, a hot meal, a bed for the night – these are the usual answers. When we dig deeper, there’s usually an emphasis on welcome, creating a space where people feel at home, a warmth, a commitment to the other’s wellbeing.
In English, the Latin roots for the word hospitality connote two different ideas. First, the root hostis implies both guest and host, indicating a fluidity of motion between the two, a reciprocity or exchange that is expected: “I do this for you because you did this for me.” In the ancient worlds that shaped our religious traditions, the common practice was to treat guests with respect for two main reasons. Either it was an act of diplomacy as you may be a traveler in their land one day, or because there was an understanding that a guest could have been a powerful being – a god – in disguise, testing the righteous. Therefore, welcoming a guest became a sacred ritual because you just never really know who this guest sitting at your table really is or what they may be able to do for you later. Continue reading “Hospitality as the Ground for Good”
By Oz Cole-Arnal, former professor emeritus at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary
George and Julie MacLeod have now both crossed the Jordan to rest and enjoy full and complete embrace with the God they served so faithfully and courageously this side of glory. And this very God so embodied in Yeshua bar Miriam/Joseph sided outrageously and gloriously with those discarded by our society—people of color, indigenous folk, immigrants, Hispanics, women, LGBTQ+, street folk, the homeless–indeed all the poor. But today I remember with tears the impact they had on my life. They were absolutely key in transforming me and wife “Bunny” (and ultimately our two guys by dint of attachment to us) from well-intentioned liberals, who believed naively that reasonable and calm discussion over time could solve all problems, into radicals determined to follow Christ through “thick and thin.” Continue reading “Mourning the Loss of George MacLeod: Most Assuredly & Absolutely No “Brady Bunch Dad””
New Year’s Greetings!
The Arts and Education Committee of the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition is assembling a new resource on the topic of reparations and repair. It will contain biblical and theological reflections as well as stories about how people have practiced reparative justice on the ground. Our intended audience is Anabaptist congregations, but our past resources (see here) have been used far and wide and are not limited to church folks! Continue reading “Submit Stories and Reflections!”
As the arrogant, stupidity of the war machine speeds up, as the cries of those killed echo in our hearts, as our fear lives in our throats, we ready ourselves to put our bodies in the street once again to say No Way! Never Again! No War with Iran!
It is on days like today, when “spiritual death” seems so close, that I am reminded and re-reading A Time to Break Silence by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:
I need not pause to say how very delighted I am to be here tonight, and how very delighted I am to see you expressing your concern about the issues that will be discussed tonight by turning out in such large numbers. I also want to say that I consider it a great honor to share this program with Dr. Bennett, Dr. Commager, and Rabbi Heschel, and some of the distinguished leaders and personalities of our nation. And of course it’s always good to come back to Riverside church. Over the last eight years, I have had the privilege of preaching here almost every year in that period, and it is always a rich and rewarding experience to come to this great church and this great pulpit. Continue reading “The War Machine Rages On”
By Jim Perkinson, for the St. Peter’s Episcopal community in Detroit, MI (12/29/19) on Psalm 147 and John 1:1-18
star-counter
wound-binder
re-builder of the refuge
for refugees
lowly-lifter
wealthy-rebuker
cloud-tailor for
the heavens when naked Continue reading “word made flesh”
By Tommy Airey
“The time has come, God knows, for us to examine ourselves, but we can only do this if we are willing to free ourselves of the myth of America and try to find out what is really happening here.”—James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name (1961)
“…and a little child shall lead them.”—Isaiah 11:6b
Warning: this essay contains graphic language that may be unsuitable for some adults.
On this date, exactly a year ago, Lindsay and I found ourselves on ancient Chumash land, now called “the central coast of California.” We took the shuttle up to Hearst Castle, the 40,000 acre “ranch” built for newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst and his wife, five sons and mistress. Early in the tour, our six-year-old nephew creatively resisted his boredom by making a game of how many nude statues he could find along the way. He was particularly fond of the penises, which made him giggle uncontrollably. Continue reading “An Alternative Tour”
Radical Discipleship