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2021: a year in books
This is the first year I’ve actually written down (or at least attempted to write down) every book I’ve finished reading over the course of the year. It’s been a good exercise. Looking back at the list now, I feel a lot of gratitude. These authors poured their hearts and souls into each of these…
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God lifts the lowly: reflections on Mary’s song
46 “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50…
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Learn from the wildflowers: a mini-sermon on Matthew 6:25-34
Thankful for the opportunity to give another short sermon at Lake B a couple weeks ago. I’m always glad to have opportunities to preach – but really I’m mostly grateful to have been pushed to think a lot about this text. Matthew 6:25-34 was actually one of the texts that I came up with as…
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Super chill book review: Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America (Ijeoma Oluo)
Well, it seems that I took a *totally intentional* hiatus from blogging for most of August. But I’m back, woohoo, with super chill book reviews and more. (Hopefully, more = poems, scripture reflections, prayers, sermons. We’ll see.) For now, I’m excited to share some quotes and general brilliance from Ijeoma Oluo’s 2020 book Mediocre: The…
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Super chill book review: Real American: A Memoir (Julie Lythcott-Haims)
When I was at Stanford, there was a beloved dean of freshmen and undergraduate advising named Julie Lythcott-Haims, affectionately known as “Dean Julie.” I didn’t really interact with her personally—I mostly just remember her leading us all in a chant of “oh-ten!” to show our enthusiasm for being part of the great class of 2010—but…
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Super chill book review: Just Us: An American Conversation (Claudia Rankine)
Apparently Claudia Rankine’s 2014 book (or, more precisely, book-length poem, although a lot of it is fairly prose-y) Citizen: An American Lyric is pretty well-known, at least in some circles, but I hadn’t heard of it until recently. When I went to check it out from the library, I saw that Rankine also wrote a…
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Super chill book review: Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God (Kaitlin B. Curtice)
After most recently writing about a couple of old-school(-ish) books, it feels like a good time to come back to the present. Kaitlin B. Curtice is my age, and her very-much-worth-reading book Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God was published in 2020. I found Curtice’s reflections on grappling with Christian faith as a young woman…
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Super chill book review: Hope in the Dark (Rebecca Solnit)
Rebecca Solnit originally published Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities in 2004, so a lot of it centers on the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. I read the third edition, published in 2015, which includes a long and lovely newly written foreword. The premise of the book is that “The future…
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The illusion of independence: Jesus, to the Laodiceans
Here’s a literal translation of Revelation 3:14-22—Jesus’ words to the last of the seven churches featured in the first few chapters of Revelation. (14) And to the angel of the church in Laodicea, write; these things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of the creation of God; (15) I know your…
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Post-acquittal prayer
A prayer for mercy as the news of Trump’s acquittal in his second impeachment trial sinks in. God, have mercy on everyone who grieves this. Have mercy on everyone who rejoices. Have mercy on everyone who is oblivious. Have mercy on everyone who is numb. Have mercy on everyone who carries disillusionment like weight within…