This was originally published on Covenant from The Living Church. I was asked whether I thought I would be a priest in the Episcopal Church when I was fifteen years old. This was the first time I was on the receiving end of an inquiry about priestly call and vocation–but it certainly would not be …
This piece was originally published on Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices Blog I feel like I need to tell you upfront that I didn’t join Tinder to spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all of my potential matches. I do hope you already knew that. But after three years, a …
Likewise, we are not called to be Christians in the privacy of our own home or house of worship. Following Christ requires being in the world, but not of the world. Being a disciple of Jesus means acknowledging the pain and brokenness in our lives and imagining our way into healing and hope.
Jesus did not check people’s employment status before healing them and I am sure some of those bodies he raised from the dead had pre-existing conditions. Jesus had a preferential option for the sick and the poor.
Islamophobia is one of many plagues sweeping the modern United States. Anti-Muslim sentiment relies on expansive, hateful judgement not fact or reality. The Muslim community is diverse – just like the Christian community is diverse. The Muslim faith is nuances – as is the Christian world.
This morning we read the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree from the Gospel of Luke. A story of aman who had a tree planted. He came looking for fruit. He came looking for three years. Every year that he came looking the tree was barren. He could look no more. It was time for …
Our inability to prevent bad things from happening does not undermine our ability to care for others. Pain is a part of human existence, but like Jesus we can respond with compassion and work for healing in our communities. Matthew was martyred, we cannot change history. Our government is perpetuating violence, we do not have the immediate power to stop this reign of terror. What we can do is pay attention to our community and care for our LGBTQ+ siblings. We can do both immediately in an embodied way and also by advocating for institutional and governmental changes that affirm the dignity of all people.
In the past few years I have become increasingly overwhelmed by the news cycle. I don’t imagine that this is because the world is becoming more violent, dangerous, or devastated – I think it’s probably been that way all along. Instead I believe my conscious awareness of the injustices of this world has risen. This is probably true for lots of people like me.
I don’t know about you but sometimes I feel like I have to do things on my own. When I feel overwhelmed by the news cycle, when I am facing a hard decision, when I am feeling challenged by the circumstances of my life – I can fall in to the trap of thinking I …
For a white American like me there is no such thing as “heritage not hate.” Whether or not we are waving confederate flags, white inheritance is a legacy of colonization and violence perpetrated against indigenous Americans, black people, immigrants, and other marginalized communities. To deny this is an active choice to silence the voices of those people who our ancestors oppressed and who are still harmed by white dominance today. To acknowledge racism as our inheritance does not mean utter condemnation. Actually, telling the truth is a step towards creating a new way of being.
