The Next Right Thing, Spring 2021
The concept of doing the “next right thing” is so genius, because the small decisions we make in our hours and days ultimately shape our lives. Even though we can’t see it in those small moments. In the marathon journey of living as a Christian striving to participate in the racial reconciliation of Jesus, small steps matter. They keep us going and they keep our hearts engaged. Sometimes these steps are visible, sometimes they are matters of the heart. I wanted to talk about three of my small next-right-things from this Spring: three small steps that helped me stay purposeful in pursuing the goal. I hope they’ll encourage you in what you are already doing or hope to do.
What do you know about “Lift Every Voice and Sing?”
February 12, 2021 is the 121st anniversary of the first performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a poem and hymn that has become known as the Black National Anthem. I didn’t know about this song, let alone its position as an anthem, until this year. I keep having moments like this when it comes …
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Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life and Faith With Our Kids + Resource Lists
This year I’m striving to help my kids (and myself) make the connection between MLK’s faith and his fight for justice. Not only was he an activist, fighting to overturn overtly racist laws, but he was also a passionate minister of the gospel. He pleaded with leaders of white churches not to be silent about Black peoples’ plight and to courageously stand in solidarity. His faith framed not only his protests but also his non-violent methods of protests. And he remained faithful to proclaiming the truth of God and the dignity of humanity to the very end.
How Genesis One Orients Us Towards Justice
in the beginning, it was good. Before the weeds came up, before people killed one another, before the poor were extorted, it was good. And that goodness is crucial in building an understanding of biblical justice.
My Top Twelve Reads of 2020
Books, books, books! One of the only ways that I want to relive 2020 is by reviewing its best reads. Quarantine seemed to either kick my brain into overdrive or squash it into a puddle of mush. During those times of overdrive, I read as many books as I could get my hands on and …
Advent, Ancients, and…Anti-Racism?
Advent is an ancient tradition that both ministers to our hearts and equips us for the fight against racism. If you’ve never practiced it, or have never considered its relationship to social issues, read on in the post below!
Praying in Tension This Thanksgiving
This post is about the unique Thanksgiving season we have been given in 2020. It’s a post about wrestling with the tension of giving thanks during worldwide calamity. It’s about giving thanks on a holiday whose history can’t be disconnected from racism and violence. These tensions are not insurmountable; praying through them has been transformational for me this week. In this post I’ve written two different prayers of thanksgiving that I hope might minister to you. If you find both gratefulness and pain in your heart this holiday season, let them exist together and draw you nearer to the one who is King over them all.
Reframing Thanksgiving: helping young kids honor the Indigenous narrative
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from researching the history of Thanksgiving, it’s that more misconceptions abound than I realized. These misconceptions and oversimplifications (usually) taught in childhood are frequently left unchecked as children grow into adults. My 6 year old has already had his toes dipped in the romanticized Thanksgiving story. He already knows …
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When You Think of a Leader, What Image First Comes to Mind?
One of the most powerful questions I’ve considered lately came in the middle of David Swanson’s book Rediscipling the White Church. He was describing one of the training sessions he went through during process of adopting his son. The moderator had the group, mostly white, stop to consider this question: “When was the last time …
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Face to Face With Our Own Bias: Confronting For the Sake of Freedom
In just a split second, less than a heartbeat, my external observations had led to blanket judgments, which had in turn led to the most devastating consequence of our prejudice: dehumanization. But God can redeem what we admit is broken…
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