Kenyatta R. Gilbert: John Lewis and the masks Black preachers wear on the public stage
Preaching, in their understanding, tells the truth about suffering in the contexts of fear and death. Ultimately it declares that evil and despair have an appointed end. Because of this, as John Lewis said in his posthumously publishe op-ed: “Each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up, and speak out.”
Martin Edmunds: Personal Mythology
You’re Adam. She’s Eve.
You fuck up: cannot conceive
Yahweh’s anger.
John O’Donohue: Beannacht
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
Jericho Brown: Nativity
Come trouble’s birthday,
I think of every gift people get
They don’t use. Oh, and I
Pray.
Patricia A. Nugent: Away from the Manger
Too late, I spotted Baby Jesus’ feet sticking out of Punkin’s mouth – snatched from the tabletop nativity scene. I flew across the room to rescue the Prince of Peace. Punkin took a big gulp, and Jesus disappeared down his gullet.
John Shelby Spong: What is God?
Bishop Spong called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines.
Michael Simms: Tree of Life
God, like a lazy cop,
Never seems to be around
When you need Him
Leonore Wilson: Adder
beast,
lonely disciple —
what exegesis of the heart
did you prophesize
Video: The unheard story of the Sistine Chapel | Elizabeth Lev
Elizabeth Lev’s experience studying and teaching art has led her to believe that when we encounter something beautiful, we are made vulnerable and opened to the truth.
Rev. John Dear: Daniel Berrigan and his fearless nonviolence, at 100
Five years since his death and 100 since his birth, legendary priest, author, poet and activist Daniel Berrigan continues to offer wisdom and insight on living a life of creative nonviolence.
Video: Via Dolorosa
In the coastal Mediterranean city of Málaga, home to one of Holy Week’s most historic and famed celebrations, processions feature massive thrones intricately adorned with Christian imagery.
Ellen McGrath Smith: Good Friday, Fernhill Dump
Standing, a girl-boy, on the junked car in the dump,
some other kids across the dump standing on their cars
Chard deNiord: Lizard, An Exegesis as Love Letter
So when you woke, there I was in my Sunday best as a funny little guy with a complex tongue and stunted legs who spoke the double truth.
Charles Davidson: Grace Given As Grace Received
Of all the besetting sins of an increasingly narcissistic age of emptiness and brokenness, the failure to love oneself may be a root sin that is perpetuated down the cycles of the generations.
