Ms. Dickinson, I do not know what possessed you in those days-- You closed the door upon yourself Yet your self still found a way. Isolated, you wrote of death-- an old familiar friend You named the gift that is the grief-- Your words garments to rend. Ms. Dickinson, what did you choose-- contemplation? quarantine? … Continue reading For Emily Dickinson In The Midst of a Global Pandemic
My teenage, college, and graduate school years were in the 1990s and early 2000s. I read a lot about race, and culture in that time. I heard the term “structural racism” for the first time when I was 16 years old while counseling kids of incarcerated women at camp. I interned at a South African … Continue reading On Race and Confession
I’ve been thinking about my own counterfeit bill. I was living in Kenya and traveled to Tanzania to meet a friend for a week of adventure. I exchanged Kenyan shillings for Tanzanian shillings at the border. The exchange agent had an official badge. The rate was as good as the bureaus in Nairobi. I had … Continue reading My Counterfeit Bill
Governor Lee’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives released its guidance for gathering in houses of worship on Friday. It has raised several questions for me. You can read the guidelines here. Here is what interests me about this document: The citing of the TN Religious Freedom Protection Act. If my cursory research is correct, … Continue reading Questions for Governor Bill Lee
So yeah, the idea that you could inject--somewhere between the Camper Van Beethoven deep track and the socially conscious reggae cover, or right after The Beatles tune before the super ironic ear-shattering William Shatner cover--a song that described the art of what your listener was experiencing at that very moment was very cool.
News broke today of a local church suing the City of Chattanooga for banning drive-in services. As you might imagine, I have some thoughts. Here’s the thing about Sheltering at Home and Social Distancing: there’s nothing magic about gatherings of ten people or fewer. It simply reduces the risk of spread. It doesn’t stop it. … Continue reading Here’s The Thing: Thoughts on the Metro Tabernacle Lawsuit
Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. —Luke 23:46: Here marks the distance between God and us. A last breath. A last hope. A last verse. Here are hands of a God who can’t be bothered to reach out When we fear our hands touching one another When we fear our hands touching our … Continue reading Good Friday 2020
Some scenes from an unusually quiet walk.
A colleague of mine posted a quick, thoughtful quip on Facebook this afternoon: Does "social distancing" sound like the least Jesus-like behavior you've ever heard of?He wasn't wrong. In the Christian tradition, to love one's neighbor as oneself is core. For Jesus, it was one of two commandments through which all others were to be … Continue reading Love in the Time of Corona Virus
On the first night, Jacob dreamed that he wrestled God. On the second night, Jacob dreamed that he wrestled a million gods. They were at his feet, on his back, in his hair. On the third night, Jacob dreamed that he wrestled with no-thing and still lost. Confused, Jacob wrestled the fourth night with the … Continue reading Jacob Wrestles: a New Basement Page
