Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

August 2012

  • On the 49th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, it seems fitting to reflect on where we are in fulfilling it. Back in January, I wrote this for King’s birthday: It should surprise none of us that a leader villified by the conservative white community as “uppity” would become as…

  • a Homily for Proper 16B Text: John 6:56-69   What is this? Jesus has brought the people here through a swirling storm of teachings about faith, understanding, and love. As they arrive to the safety of the synagogue, he takes all of that teaching and he mixes in their likely confusion about literal and metaphorical…

  • My baby turned 1 today. Crazy! We had a busy day of play with Big Sister, presents, and our first cupcake! He didn’t like it. It is hard to believe that the last year went by so fast! I am so proud of him and am constantly amazed by him. I love you, My Boy!

  • [NOTE: All scripture quotes are from The Schocken Bible by Everett Fox which transliterates the text to better represent the sound of the Hebrew. Below, Cain and Abel are Kayin and Hevel] While preparing a bible study on Genesis, I was given new insight about the traditional Cain and Abel story. It prophetically speaks to…

  • Among the most famous sentences in the English language is found in the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. This came to mind…

  • Or I (heart) Pussy Riot I’ve only just come across this story as I catch up on my podcasts and as Christian Piatt covered a few days ago. Christian covers the discomfort we have in the prophetic action and the challenge of protest in an admirably personal way. You should really check out his post.…