*This post is excerpted from a sermon on John 1:29-42. These days, we hear the phrase “Lamb of God” most often during Lent. We connect it to Jesus as the “suffering servant” of Isaiah 53, and it conjures up images of Jesus’ bloody body hanging on the cross. I can’t imagine, though, that this is…
Prayer Call it seeking connection or intimate desire or anticipation Call it revealing yourself or whispering your need or opening up Call it eager groaning or impassioned insistence or simply “O, my God” Call it your safe word your pillow talk your contented rest Call it your love chase so far
Generally, when selecting a scripture reading for worship, I would leave out phrases like “the end of all things in near.” But when I read 1 Peter 4:7 this week, I decided it should stay in. Because . . . well . . . if you’ve been following the news at all these past few…
If you thought the Mennonite church’s incompetence in discussing issues of sexuality was limited to its “discernment” of LGBTQ inclusion in the church, then you thought wrong. We are also, it would seem, not particularly skilled at discussing questions of accountability in relation to sexual abuse within church communities and institutions. We managed to get…
Turns out I had some more thoughts on Sunday morning’s shooting. This letter was written in collaboration with some wonderful colleagues and signed by even more wonderful colleagues and was originally posted on the Inclusive Mennonite Pastors web site. “We are dying, and you are killing us.” These are the words Jay Yoder writes to…
I struggle to know how to respond in the wake of the shooting at Pulse Nightclub. Fifty dead. Over forty hospitalized. Hundreds traumatized. Guns, again. A tragedy followed by anti-Muslim rhetoric, again. Beautiful queer bodies targeted for violence, again. I feel grief. And horror. And despair. And anger. I feel helpless. I feel like I…
Originally posted on Spacious Faith:
There is a story about the great theologian, Augustine of Hippo. One day after he had been writing about the Trinity for awhile, he decided to take a break and go walk along the beach. He came across a boy who had a bucket. He would fill up the bucket,…
