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These Lines
I resonated with much of Austin Channing Brown’s recent post about “unity” to her e-mail newsletter “Roll Call.” Austin encourages her readers to be aware of ways we might be asked to participate in a kind of unity that works against justice rather than for it. You can check out the post here if you’re…
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Grace overflows into us
In a lot of translations, Ephesians 1:7-8 reads something like this: “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us” (NIV, emphasis added). When I was translating, I came up with this: “In [Christ] we have redemption through his…
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“White Blessings”
As Lecrae said in response to Louie Giglio’s ridiculousness, “This needs to be a time when [white evangelicals] listen and learn, and not a time when you’re leading” (see this Washington Post article about last week’s “white blessings” debacle if you need some context or aren’t sick of reading about it already). Some thoughts, in…
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Solvitur Ambulando
My mom introduced me to this phrase recently, and I liked it (even though it’s not Greek), so I wrote a poem about it. Solvitur Ambulando Solvitur ambulando it is solved by walking so we walked and walked and walked until we found a better way. We walked until the blood that paved our streets…
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Late to the Vineyard
Is your eye bad because I am good? That’s a very literal translation of the second half of Matthew 20:15, which is often translated or are you envious because I am generous? (e.g. NIV, NRSV). I’m thinking about this story, which Jesus tells in Matthew 20:1-16, about several different sets of workers who end up…
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Poker, Prodder
Keeping with the theme of the recent Christian celebration of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit, juxtaposed with this reality we find ourselves in: Poker, Prodder Holy Spirit, poker, prodder, discomforter of unjust horror-filled structures and disquieter of all who profit from them, table-turner of the wrongly weighted scales that weigh color and find darkness wanting,…
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Kimberly Latrice Jones’ video, black anger, and white discomfort
This video by black author and activist Kimberly Latrice Jones has been making the rounds on the interwebs. It’s entitled “How can we win?”, and it’s worth watching. I’m sure white people are saying all sorts of things about it, and it probably doesn’t need any more white person commentary. On the other hand, if…
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I Do Not Wish to Perform My Grief
A poem reflecting on George Floyd’s murder, the subsequent protests, and my hope to stand in solidarity with my Black siblings in their weariness, grief, and anger. I Do Not Wish to Perform My Grief I do not wish to perform my grief as if it could be part of a persona crafted carefully to…
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Troubled (White) Consciences
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” (Matthew 14:1-2) Guilty conscience, much? King Herod hears that there’s this guy named Jesus who is going…
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John and the Long Arm of the Law
Soldiers also asked John, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.” (Luke 3:14) This third group of people who come to John the Baptist asking, what then should we do? gets an answer that I want…