When she showed me the picture, my face brightened — because that is what you do when a child shows you their creations. It was obviously a person, about that there was no doubt. Who it depicted was less clear. Perhaps a friend? Perhaps someone from a show she watches? Perhaps a family member? “They look…

What a strange week it has been. I returned home from our Easter service to find that while we were celebrating Christ’s victory over death, the president was threatening war crimes on the coming Tuesday, and telling Iran to “Open the F*****’ Strait, you crazy b*******, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH!” Then…

Take a moment. Breathe in. Breathe out. Today is a big day. It’s Good Friday, and Jesus will die. That’s the story we remember and we relive each year as we seek to sync our life to the life of Christ. We journey from the anticipation of Advent to the arrival of Christmas, from the…

On Monday, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan (Singapore’s minister for foreign affairs) was interviewed by Reuters about the impact of the Iran war on Singapore and economics. Within that interview, he offered the following historical perspective framed around the concept of a “Pax Americana”: “For 80 years, the US was the underwriter for a system of globalisation…

An Oracle of Ezekiel, with apologies to Clarence Jordan, and his Cotton Patch Gospels: Then I was compelled to stroll down the DuPage River Trail, and the Spirit took me to the river’s edge. It was littered with the bones of thousands upon thousands of the dead. Plants, trees, bushes, thorns, flowers, and all manner…

Whatever might have been in my mind to write about today was blown away with the roaring wind. What is your experience of a windy day like today? Does it worry you? Energize you? Do you hunker down until it is past? Venture out to be buffeted about? Are you ambivalent about it? I doubt…

This morning, I woke up later than usual. I’m one of those people whose circadian rhythms run deep, which made this abnormal but not unexpected given the dim light of impending storms. Making my way downstairs and making my coffee, my mind began to spin up: songs began playing in the background, to-do lists for the…

Some years ago, there was a segment on Saturday Night live called “Deep Thoughts with Jack Handey.” Conceived as brief transition elements between the lives sketches, these usually–idiotic and often dark–humored ruminations gained a cult following of their own and were eventually published in a book. Some of “Jack Handey”’s memorable “deep thoughts” include: “If…

Welcome to Lent. Whether you engage in your own purposeful practice during this season or not, Lent overlaps for us with a season in creation in which much changes. Between now and Easter Sunday, there will be a great deal of change that happens in terms of climate and the flora and fauna around us.…

While I am certain I have mentioned it before, it bears repeating that in these disturbing times I have deeply appreciated the voices of those of color who speak of a continuity between now and before that those of certain privileges are likely to miss. For all the parallels that white folks like me can…