Liz Cooledge Jenkins

Tag: America

  • 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…

  • Jesus, Pergamum, and Trumpism

    Continuing in the book of Revelation, here’s a pretty literal translation of 2:12-17: (12) And to the angel of the church in Pergamum, write: these things says the one who has the sharp two-edged sword: (13) I know where you dwell, where the throne of Satan (is), and you are grasping my name and did…

  • Election Week Blessing

    Because I wanted to be cool like Nadia Bolz-Weber (just kidding―I’ll never be as cool as Nadia!) and write some blessings of my own. (Check out Nadia’s beautiful “Blessed are the Agnostics” piece here, if you like. It’s really lovely.) These words are loosely inspired by the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), and much less loosely inspired…

  • How Far We Were

    How Far We Were I did not know      how far we were          from one another til 2020 blasted into light     the light years that had always          been between us, like a looking glass      intent on showing         wrinkled scars  where we expected to      see youth.          Sometimes  I wish I did not know     how much we do…

  • Mini-sermon: A Different Kind of Power

    I had the chance this last weekend to share a 7-8 minute mini-sermon for my church’s online worship service, so I thought I’d share it with y’all as well. If you prefer to watch a video, the service is on YouTube here. My part starts around 36:34, but check out the other two mini-sermons before…

  • Answer To

    I’m thinking of all the evangelical leaders who say ridiculous and harmful things, and wondering if all the ordinary Christians who listen to them know that they don’t have to – that just because someone is a pastor or has a big following (or a lot of media attention) and claims the Christian name doesn’t…

  • Empowerment and authoritarianism and the armor of God, with shout-out to the Black Panthers

    Here is one way I might translate Ephesians 6:10-17 (emphasis added): (10) Henceforth, (y’all) be empowered in (the) Lord and in the strength of his ability. (11) (Y’all) put on the whole armor of God for the purpose of y’all being powerful to stand up to the schemes of the devil; (12) because the wrestling,…

  • We the People (American Lament)

    We the People (American Lament) Take a needle, poke a hole in the  American pipe dream, and watch it all  deflate.  We the people  never knew how to  care for ourselves, our neighbors, let alone the ones that we call strange. We grasp with cowardice  to table scraps  of life, liberty, happiness, like broken records …

  • To the people with power

    In Ephesians 6:5-9, Paul gives a series of instructions to δοῦλοι (slaves or servants―people in a position of subservience or subjection), and then to κυρίοις (masters or lords―people in a position of power).  Here is the passage in the NRSV translation: 5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart,…

  • Y’all, be angry!

    As someone who has spent a fair amount of time reading the NIV translation of the Bible, I was surprised when I translated Ephesians 4:26 from the Greek to find that it does not really say “in your anger do not sin” (NIV). It actually says, “be angry and do not sin.” (This is all…