In her book, “The Very Good Gospel,” Lisa Sharon Harper defines “shalom” as “everything wrong made right again.” It is my favorite definition of the word. As the world catches fire– literally and metaphorically through increasing social rhetoric and violent … Continue reading No Whitewashed Leaves
One of my favorite names for the Holy One is “Emmanuel,” meaning “God with Us.” We in the church world typically dust this title off around Advent. We read it in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, when the prophet … Continue reading God With Us
I hold each kernel between my fingers. The seeds were planted close together, and, in order to reap the benefit of each new start, I must separate the small plants. Because they are so close, very little dirt adheres to … Continue reading The Ongoing Work of Growing Things
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. One of the most compelling features of the museum are tall black pillars featuring the names of every human being reported to … Continue reading Reparations… or, Revival?
But here is what is unique. This is the table where Hope resides. These boys are gathered around her like she is a bonfire on a windy beach. Continue reading Hope in the Dark
The kingdom of God is a table— a global and eternal potluck, bountiful, pressed down, and overflowing with all the goodness of comfort food from a billion cultures, all prepared with scarred and loving hands. The compelling aroma of home … Continue reading What if the table unites us?
It is the story our hearts ache for: Peace at the end of a long journey. Fulfillment after difficult travail. Joy after pain. Wonder after the monotony of the ordinary. Safety and security after displacement and threat. Deep in the soul of every human being is the unquenchable longing to come home to the place where “everything wrong has been made right” (Harper) and where all the good things are… To the place where we know instinctively that we belong. Continue reading Subversive Advent
There is a meme going around that depicts a row of voting machines with the caption, “Your thoughts and prayers in action.” While the medium might be relatively new to human communication, the message itself has been around for around … Continue reading Voting as Civil Intercession
As most readers understand, the egregious disparities that exist in the American health care system pre-existed the Covid-19 pandemic. The virus merely spotlighted the profound ways that the Black community, and, for the purpose of this article, Black women in particular, are impacted by a critically biased and increasingly open racialized system. Continue reading Women’s Healthcare in the Eye of the Storm
Three-Fifths 