Viral Faith

   But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.  How strange a body would be if it had only one part!  Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.  The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you."  In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.  And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So, God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.  If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. (I Cor 12:18-26 NLT) "During the Jim Crow era...

  "These seeds produced a myth of racial superiority that both determined America's founding and defined its identity.  This myth then gave way to America's grand narrative of exceptionalism." --Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas in Stand Your Ground If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalms 11:3 NRSV) Forums for civil discourse and critical engagement with the meaningful issues of our time are nearly non-existent.  I had hoped the great universities and colleges of the US would remain places of genuine inquiry and produce graduates who were refined in the art of critical thinking.  More and more often, education has been co-opted by political forces who attempt to frame all thinking according to its own whims.  Recently, numerous institutions of higher education have sought to repress protests , often violently, rather than encourage the civil exchange of ideas or facilitate true dialog around complex issues. On of the great tenants of democrac...

  "The Bible has always been read through the experience of the people holding it. The meaning they draw and the ethics they build are directly related to the kind of lives they lead.  It is no wonder that for a people trapped in slavery and yearning to be free, that the Bible would mean and encourage liberation." -- Dr. Brian K. Blount in "Then the Whisper Put On flesh"   All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness [justice], so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. ( 2 Tim 3:16-17 NRSV, parenthesis mine) I have been part of a wide variety of churches. I have been in multicultural churches, predominantly African American churches, and in predominantly White churches as I enter my 6th decade of life.  I believe that my experiences with a variety of communities allows some unique perspectives but more importantly, a cultural humility to understa...

  "Deification and demonization are the graves wherein we have buried all hope of genuine reconciliation, justice, and meaningful transformation. The songs we sing at that graveside are not songs of mourning and loss; only the sorrowful wailings of self-justification and self-destruction." --Allan Boesak in Pharaohs on Both Sides of the Blood-Red Waters  What sorrow for those who say  that evil is good and good is evil,  that dark is light and light is dark,  that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. (Isaiah 5:20 NLT) Last month, the US celebrated Martin Luther King Jr Day, and since 1976, the nation identifies each February to remember Black history.  As an African American man, I have had mixed feelings about how each of these things are commemorated. On one hand, I am deeply grateful for and incredibly excited to honor leaders of the civil rights movement, from which I (as well as the entire nation) am the beneficiary.  One of my earliest memories i...