Listening to Each Other – Sept. 7, 2020
“The first service one owes to others in a community involves listening to them. Just as our love for God begins with listening to God’s Word, the beginning of love for others is learning to listen to them. God’s love for us is shown by the fact that God not only gives God’s Word, but […]
Carriers of Love – Aug. 31, 2020
“We always talk about Black suffering… But we never see Black people as carriers of love. We see them as carriers of pain. We see them carriers forever, you know, 400 years of suffering. But not 400 years of fierce love.” –Nikky Finney, “I Come from Love.” Poetry Off the Shelf (podcast)
To Take Up Your Cross
Today’s passage from Matthew* has often been understood as a call not to life, but to resignation: suffering is all, and the proper response is gritting teeth and bearing pain proudly to pay God back for God’s love. Fake it if you have to, imitate, but keep your joy at bay. As my father was […]
You Are Loved As Is – Aug. 26, 2020
“I wish I had my Sunday School kids today, during the devastation of the pandemic and the terrifying images of murder and protest. I would tell that I am lost, too, but from the wise old pinnacle of my years, I would assure them that we can trust God no matter how things look and […]