Three is a Magic Number

When ICE was operating far away, it was too easy to look away. But now they’re here in our neighborhoods, on our streets harassing our residents, friends, neighbors, co‑workers. A new resident, Renee Nicole Good, is dead. These images aren’t from 200 miles away. They’re from 15 miles away. From 10 miles away. From 5 miles away. Target workers, U.S. citizens, forced to the floor and cuffed. An Uber driver standing his ground because he knew his rights. High schoolers and teachers shoved outside of their own school. A pregnant woman dragged from her car. A father arrested while with his little girl, and ICE had no plan to care for her, so she ran. A woman killed because an agent decided pulling a gun was easier than stepping aside. I’m so mad. And I know I have to watch how that comes out because my people deserve a steady, non-anxious presence from me. I can be an intense person. But right now, all I can offer is the truth: this is horrifying. ICE and DHS are acting with cruelty and ...

I want to start by saying that we all need to be supporting our local food shelves.  Now to the post... I’ve had a series of videos popping up on my social media feeds by a content creator named Nikalie who is doing so-called ‘social experiments’.   She pretends to be a mom needing formula with a recording of a baby in the background.   Here are two examples of many.   Watch before you read on.   https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMsrQGtb/ and https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMsrvBgb/ You will notice that in the comments, people are outraged.   I’m irritated too, but for different reasons.   If Nikalie runs across this post, I hope she calls my church because I want to explain that, without knowing it, she is doing more harm than good.   I truly think she has good intentions, but she is lacking some context. The most common thing you will hear in these videos is that the churches refer the Nikalie to a food shelf or other organization that is set up to meet ...

 In my experience, woman in leadership must work harder and be more skilled in order to raise to the same level as their male counter parts.  It’s not to say that all the men leaders I’ve worked for aren’t skilled or that all women I’ve worked with have been exceptional.  But when I assess them overall, many of the men who raised to leadership could not have reached their role if they had been a woman.  And if the women had the same level of skill the men had, they would not have reached their leadership role.  This trend is not just true in ministry and education (my fields); it’s also in business, nonprofits, and yes, in politics.   For women, this dynamic is incredibly frustrating.   During this campaign season, we’ve all been watching how exceptional Harris has had to be and how ill-equipped Trump appears to be.   Yet this race is tight.   Harris is one of the most qualified candidates for president in history, working in all three...

My daughter, a first-time voter, said to me, “Mom, it feels really important to me that Kamala Harris wins the election.”   I replied, “I feel the same way.”   Plenty of pundits and talking heads are outlining why: the policies on her website, women’s rights, empowerment of the middle class, her message about lifting people up.   But I want to talk about a different reason.   As I Christian pastor, I’m concerned about the future of Christianity in the US due to the uprising of Christian nationalism since Trumpism took root.   It’s no surprise that as a pastor, I believe that faith really matters.   I can cite scientific research about the healing power of spirituality, point you to stories of individual transformation, and highlight the positive impact of religion on society.   Heck, I've devoted my life to sharing this good news.  But  I am also astutely aware of the damage that faithful people can do: oppression, manipulation, coercio...

Was Jesus a polarizing figure? My church will do a worship series on polarization during Lent.   Wish us luck!   People are already asking me, “Are you really going to ask me to interact with others whose views are so off course that they would become violent?”   That response is incredibly telling of the dynamics at play within our society—that people automatically go to the extreme without seeing the rest.   The goal of this series is to investigate whether the life of Jesus teaches us anything about polarization. I’ve been doing some scriptural research.   And I got to tell you: it’s been a tough day.   You know when you are reading a novel and you prescribe a personality, tone of voice, and temperament to a character?   It’s almost like you can hear their voice in your head as you are reading dialogue.   The author of the story, of course, plants all the seeds through their character development, but ultimately the reader’s own lens giv...

It's PRIDE month.  For the last three years, June has been a really strange time in ministry for me.  People often refer friends, relatives, and colleagues to talk through issues around identity and gender diversity.  I get calls from people dissatisfied with their own church's stance who are trying to figure out steps to allyship.  I get calls from parents trying to do the right things.  But the most holy calls I get are from people from the LGBTQIA community, folks looking for hope after church rejection, spiritual trauma, and family rejection.   These folks are brave:  brave to recount the pain, brave to dare to accept themselves, brave to let themselves sense a glimmer of healing grace.  Their stories are sacred, and I feel nothing but gratitude that I'm let into this sacredness.   Recently I was asked by a group to provide a two-minute speech about the power of story-telling during a time of holy conferencing (the nice version ...