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Ministry interrupted

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Women get interrupted more frequently than men. Studies reveal this, but I didn’t need research to confirm this truth — my own experience offers enough evidence. Even the most powerful women are interrupted more than their male counterparts. An article in Aeon magazine, “How men continue to interrupt even the most powerful women,” details findings from a survey of the Supreme Court justices. The authors report, “There are few more powerful positions than being a Supreme Court justice, yet the female justices are just like other women: talked over by their male colleagues.” They go on to note that these interruptions have real consequences. “Scholars have shown that oral arguments shape case outcomes, so any systematic interference with the female justices’ ability to fully participate will limit their substantive power on the court.” Speaking and being heard matter. Words equal influence. Habitually silencing diverse voices limits vision, imagination and possibilities on the Supreme … [Read more...]

Tagged With: women in ministry

We are better than this

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I am sitting in a cozy café in Washington, D.C. Seated at the table beside me are two elementary school age children and an older teenage sibling, maybe a babysitter. Proximity prevents any truly private conversations, hence I overhear them planning the rest of their day. The little girl says flatly: “I don’t want to go to the mall. There’s more likely to be a shooter there.” The teenager in charge offers no argument to counter the girl’s fear. How could she, really? This exchange took place mere days after the El Paso and Dayton mass shootings. Regardless of the statistical reality of the rarity of these horrendous events, the possibility of such violence is obvious, even – or maybe especially – to our children. Active shooter drills punctuate the school year no less than fire drills and pep rallies. A police presence in our schools is no longer exceptional. It is expected. Teachers are tasked with not only educating our kids, but protecting them from potentially deadly harm, … [Read more...]

Tagged With: gun violence

Bumper sticker theology

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The bumper sticker on the car in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot read: “Heaven has walls, hell has open borders.” Google tells me that sometimes the slogan is more specific, noting a gate and a strict immigration policy. Often a sentence at the end admonishes the reader: “Let that sink in.” Indeed, let all of this theology sink in. I am wary of any and all theology proffered on hats, mugs, memes and the like. In my experience, God’s will, character and plans do not lend themselves to being summed up in a sentence or two, especially ones we pen. If select and beloved biblical quotes don’t move us to ways of peace and goodwill, how could anything we come up with guide us to life abundant? As brief as the Greatest Commandment and that like unto it are, they take a lifetime of practice and daily attentiveness to God, self and others in order to occasionally – and through the grace of God and the gift of the Spirit sometimes, at least partially – follow. So why would we think we could wrap up … [Read more...]

Payback time

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“What do we do now?” That’s the refrain I hear after I speak or preach or teach about the long history and persistent presence of white supremacy and racism, even in the church and among Christians. While well intended, “What do we do now?” represents a rush to false resolution and a desire to dismiss our current complicity in the sin of racism. White people like me want to be assured of our goodness. We want to be commended for our desire to do something. We don’t want to sit in the painful space of recognizing the advantages we enjoy at the costly expense to non-whites. Repeatedly, white Christians say to me that the past is past and all that matters is what we do now. Embedded in that urgency is a need to deny the suffering, terror and oppression beset upon people of color not only by our white ancestors, but by our peers in this present day. Unless we white people recognize the depth and breadth of injustice and harm done, we can never advocate and participate fully in making … [Read more...]

Tagged With: Outlook200 • race relations

Books that make me want to be and do better

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In May of this year Ibram X. Kendi, director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, published “An Antiracist Reading List” in the New York Times. His list popped my bubble of self-perceived, well-read, wokeness given that, to date, I’ve read one (yes, one) of the books on his list. I plan to correct that in the months ahead. His list, however, inspired me to come up with a list of my own. Not an antiracist reading list (I am not qualified to curate such a resource), but rather a books-that-inspire-me-to-be-better list. “Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It takes brilliance and spiritual maturity to pack so much profound wisdom into so few pages. My copy dons various colors of highlighter and pen, revealing the many times I’ve returned to this book for a booster shot of biblically-shaped inspiration for not only my call to ministry but my call to human decency. “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” by … [Read more...]

Milestones and moments

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Sitting beside my daughter, a senior in high school, in a darkened theatre in Charleston, South Carolina, I heard the author of “Wonder” say that writing the book helped her learn “to focus less on milestones and more on moments.” Her sentiment struck me enough that I wrote down her thought. Moments make up a life, I think she added. Milestones do, too, I would argue. As I plan that same daughter’s graduation party and think about her sister’s 16th birthday the next day, milestones loom large in my mind these days. Reflecting on my son’s recent graduation from college, remembering our extended family gathered around a table for lunch after the ceremony, the photo of our nuclear family of five now placed on the fridge, I realize that milestones conjure moments vivid, lovely and cherished. Milestones and moments often come in tandem, comingled, unable to be extricated one from another. Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field.” Surely, a call to make note of daily moments, to … [Read more...]

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