“Evil asks little of the dominant caste other than to sit back and do nothing. All that it needs from bystanders is their silent complicity in the evil committed on their behalf, though a caste system will protect, and perhaps even reward, those who deign to join in the terror.” — Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
The tragedy of our digital isolation
Over the past 20 plus years, the richness of my life can be traced to the learning I have done with people who are not like me. If they look like me, they don’t think like me. Sometimes they may think like me, but they don’t look like me. I’ve become “comfortable” in uncomfortable spaces.
This we are losing in aces… and I feel the loss in my own life as well.
So, when I read the following paragraphs from the Pope’s encyclical, my heart fell. I’ve printed those paragraphs off and marked them up and prayed. My heart is broken.
Continue reading “The tragedy of our digital isolation”Build on and learn from history… don’t ignore it or destroy it
Pope Francis released a new encyclical this weekend and it’s going to be pulled apart so the “divisive” stuff gets highlighted. Early news articles focus on his statements regarding the death penalty. But, there is a lot of other reading to take in and not miss.
Continue reading “Build on and learn from history… don’t ignore it or destroy it”Why do we stay silent?
“Silence itself in the face of evil is evil itself. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Guest blogger: Terri Thompson
My wife has some things to say! Listen up.
Apprenticed to Jesus–Are we?
by Terri Thompson
My view of the “presidential” debate
Leaving Babylon Part 4
This episode came from a lot of emotion because I had another conversation with another young minister who is leaving a conservative denomination because of the current partisan climate. The nice part of me wants to apologize for that, but I won’t.
The closer we draw to the election, the more doubling down culturalized Christians are doing, leaving friends of color FAR behind. Our “George Floyd Moment” was just that… a moment. Shame on us.
What is ahead for the culturalized Church is hard and I let those emotions roll as I walked through Jeremiah 27-29. This isn’t easy or enjoyable. And it will probably be ignore. But I leave it as a witness.
There is no justice
Not “breaking” a particular law does not mean there is “justice.”
This is the case of Breonna Taylor.
Continue reading “There is no justice”1955 and 2020
Over time when visiting Montgomery, Alabama we’ve been able to visit different significant spots regarding Civil Rights history.
One we regularly visit is not the place itself, but where the business is located. We always frequent Prevail Coffee when in Montgomery because their coffee is great, but it’s also built on the site of the old Kress Department Store, where Rosa Parks worked. Just down the block is a statue of Parks representing the place where she got on the bus that day in 1955 and refused to move back a few blocks later when the driver ordered her to do so.
Continue reading “1955 and 2020”No antidote for stupidity
It would be great to think we could overcome some things in society. According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, stupidity is not one of those things. For believers, there is possible hope. Read on:
Continue reading “No antidote for stupidity”