Being a radical has never presented much of a challenge for me. Even as a little kid, I asked hard questions. Took no prisoners. Questioned authority. A radical stance always came natural. Very young, I developed an addiction to anger. I raged for every righteous cause. I still do. Fury and righteous indignation are so easy. Just …
Last week, a young man was shot to death right across the street from us. The murder took place in broad daylight, right in front of a Catholic church. This hit pretty close to home. Literally. You could look out our front window and see the murder scene, right in front of a statue of the …
As a Quaker, I’ve often been told that I’m supposed to be in the world, but not of it. I always thought I knew what that meant. But lately I’m not so sure. My life has been getting a lot more worldly lately. There’s a career that demands attention, a house that requires maintenance, and a …
I’m pretty good at fooling myself. I don’t want to grow or change in ways that hurt. More often than I’d care to admit, I prefer a happy lie to the sorrowful truth. And that’s understandable. Reality can be tough to deal with. Sometimes, I look around me and all I see is darkness. I see …
For a long time I’ve looked to the apostle Paul as a model for what my ministry should be like. Paul was an itinerant preacher who was immensely gifted at crossing cultural barriers. He toured the ancient Mediterranean, publicly debating with scoffers and establishing new communities of disciples. He founded countless local assemblies based on the …
In the wake of the terror and tragedy of the shooting at Emanuel AME in Charleston, words fail. There’s nothing I can say that captures the gravity of the moment, the depth of the sorrow, the reality of the shock and anger. There is nothing left for me to say except, in the words of Job: therefore …
Care for the earth is a central concern for me. I believe that climate change may prove to be one of the greatest challenges that humanity has ever faced. I feel deeply convicted about humanity’s role in exploiting and abusing God’s creatures. The magnitude of the ecological crisis causes me to reflect on what my …