I want to begin by thanking Adrien for leading on Sunday. It was truly a blessing to be able to sit in the pews and respond. It was especially nice to not know what was going to happen. Usually, I spend all week wrestling with a topic, so Sunday morning is merely a recitation of my thoughts and management of …
In Essence
At the end of our conversation, Josh asked a question that I’ll try to paraphrase: “While you’re saying that people aren’t evil, are you also saying that there is something intrinsic to people that makes them do evil things?” I think that was the gist of it. I don’t think I adequately answered the question, but it gets at something …
Life is a Rehearsal
In 1953, Pastor Lawrence T. Holman preached a sermon entitled, “Life is Not a Dress Rehearsal.” It’s unclear whether he came up with this phrase – it is perhaps most hilariously attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche – but it is now ubiquitous, being ideally suited to be a meme for social media. It is meant to convey a sense of urgency …
St. Nina Simone
“What I hope to do all the time is to be so completely myself, to be so much myself that my audiences and even people who meet me are confronted when they – oh wow! they’re confronted with what I am inside and out, as honest as I can be. And this way they have to see things about themselves, …
St. Ida B. Wells-Barnett
In times like these – and I don’t think I need to explain that phrase; you know what I mean – there is a lot of angst about how to move forward. Certainly, political change is necessary and political change can really only happen through compromise, by building coalitions around points of agreement and choosing to ignore points of disagreement. …
St. Maria Montessori
When we hear the name Montessori, we probably think of hippy parents with children running wild. The questions I’ve heard from many parents when considering how to start their children in school are usually around command and control: Don’t they need to learn discipline? How will I get them to listen to me? How will I get them to do …
The Feast Day of St. Francis
I’m not sure there is a more beloved saint than St. Francis in all of Christendom. Even Protestants revere him. What’s not to like? He preaches to birds, for Christ’s sake. So every year, churches all over the world honor St. Francis by having a “Blessing of the Animals” service. It’s the one day a year that most churches allow …
St. John Henry Faulk
I have listened to David Marquis wax nostalgic about John Henry Faulk for years, so it was a joy this past Sunday to honor David’s friend and mentor as a saint of Church in the Cliff. By the time we reach All Saints Day this year, we will have canonized twenty people. I daresay none will have received such a …
St. Marsha P. Johnson
St. Marsha P. Johnson was a panhandler, a hustler, a drag queen, an activist, and a saint. Born Malcolm Michaels in Elizabeth, New Jersey on August 24, 1945, she was told by her mother on coming out that she was “lower than a dog.” As soon as she graduated high school, she, like other queer youth in 1963, moved to …
The Holy Ones
Growing up a in an evangelical tradition, our focus was always on conversion, getting people saved. It was understood as a one-time, all-or-nothing event. There was always some discussion of what came after, but it was a little muddled. That one event made us a new creature, casting aside the concerns of the flesh. However, I was not alone in …