2018
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#MeToo and the Jesus Movement
The #MeTooMovement has opened up new interpretive possibilities within Christianity. It reminds us that, in the case of Scripture, meaning is not just in the text, ossified and waiting to be retrieved, but it is also, always something we inevitably… Continue reading
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Wandering on the Edges of Home
This past Sunday marked 40 days since the news broke about the Pennsylvania grand jury report. 40 days of wandering in my own personal desert, trying to find the right words, but mostly doing what I do best, which is… Continue reading
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On Being Retrained in Indulgence
In my latest effort to retrain myself in indulgence, I have been taking baths, and I have been amusing myself with my childlike curiosity about my own body. My body isn’t something that I look at often and certainly not… Continue reading
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Mere Piety: Conservatism’s Monopoly on Spirituality
It’s not entirely clear to me what conservative-leaning Christians are trying to accomplish these days. In our politically and religiously complex era, we need more from everybody than reflexive, reactionary theology that’s stubbornly wedded to a highly romanticized, stained-glass version… Continue reading
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The Glory of Being Fully Human
Sunday of the Transfiguration, August 5, 2018 at St. Philip the Deacon Episcopal Church in Portland, Oregon. The book: I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown. Continue reading
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On Christian Marriage: Toward a Theology of Failure
As the recent debates and the interminable consultations on same-sex union in the Anglican Church of Canada amply attest, there is nothing quite so vexed as Christian thinking about marriage. Vexing because Christians, eager to support the church’s historical teachings… Continue reading
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The Religious Significance of Anorexia
I once interviewed at an eating disorder clinic, and the moment I walked in, I tensed and thought, “I would never get well here.” Continue reading
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Is there room for anger when God does things ‘on purpose’?
In the black church, “Church Mothers” (elderly women in the congregation) are recognized as pillars of the faith. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes writes that black women within the church are the underrated “enterprising agents” of the black church tradition. I grew… Continue reading
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Today, I write.
I almost didn’t write this post. And while there are a great number of perfectly legitimate reasons (excuses?) why I couldn’t possibly take the time to write, at the end of the day, the real reason would have been fear.… Continue reading
