Living through trauma and transition is exhausting work, whether it's in the White House, our family, or faith community. How can we maintain the energy we need to be fully present, to play a positive and constructive role in the face of challenges and tension we face?
Read MoreI wonder if Psalm 137 shines light on the way that communities hold trauma, anxiety and grief, even in ways we may not fully aware of? I don’t believe this psalm is inviting us to some sort of catharsis. I don’t feel better after praying these words; they make me uneasy, even nauseous. I hear no comfort, nothing pastoral; only an unsettled reminder of just how difficult and messy life can be.
Read MoreEarlier this year I served as a guest musician at Broadway Presbyterian Church, where their pastor, Rev. Chris Shelton, presented a summer sermon series exploring the context and themes of the New Testament. To begin, we invited the congregation to imagine a time before worship bulletins, before hymnals, even before the letters of Paul and the Gospels were written. We created a worship service that was paperless, participatory and poetic. And we used story telling, communal song and images as primary vehicles for the expression and transmission of faith, like the earliest followers of Jesus.
Read MoreThe writings of Julian of Norwich (c.1342– c.1416) have nourished my spiritual imagination since I first encountered them. Perhaps the best known of her words are from Showings, a series of visions that she received in the midst of a near-death experience.
“…but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.’
Like many mystics, Julian’s experiences led her to name God in new and surprising ways. Months ago, I came across these striking passages from her Revelations of Divine Love and found them both challenging and insightful.
“The Second Person of the Trinity is our mother in nature, in our substantial making. In him we are grounded and rooted, and he is our mother by mercy in our sensuality, by taking flesh.”
“Thus our mother, Christ, in whom our parts are kept unseparated, works in us in various ways. For in our mother, Christ, we profit and increase, and in mercy he reforms and restores us, and by virtue of his passion, death, and resurrection joins us to our substance.
Read MoreSince last fall’s #blacklivesmatter protests in New York City, I have become more and more aware of the privilege our culture affords me as a white man. I have come to understand that I cannot speak on behalf of persons of color, as if I know best what others need or want. I have not walked in their shoes nor do I understand the challenges or hurdles many face on a daily basis – from subtle, demoralizing micro-aggressions to unwarranted scrutiny to police brutality like we saw at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina this week.
But I can support and help amplify voices of color that are speaking their truth. I can name and confront racism whenever and wherever I see it. I can advocate, work for systemic change, and seek justice and equality for all, especially black lives. It is not enough to simply pray for a better world but I am called to be God’s hands and feet. My faith requires me to leverage my privilege for the wider good. And God also calls me to encourage and inspire other privileged folk to action, especially in the church.
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