Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

  • It is easy for the guy on the top of the pyramid to demand that the ones at the bottom do their jobs. To him, it is irrelevant that his job is actually to carry a football and get the snot beat out of him. That the “other duties as assigned” include ridiculous press conferences full of…

  • Jesus shows us why our ideas of power are only half right a Homily for Epiphany 4B  |  Text: Mark 1:21-28   Authority Today’s story about Jesus leaving the seashore and heading to the synagogue to teach is obviously about authority. It says so. Twice. But it gets a little complicated. Yes, it is about authority…

  • Driving home, we play “I Spy” and I name something black. The sky! she says. Nope! Something else. I say, but I’m thinking “skies are blue” and I’m thinking “it is dusk, so it is more deep purple” and still the thought confuses me. Black Skies Of course, at night the sky is black. And our…

  • We blame immigrants We blame minorities We blame women We blame sexuality We blame immorality We blame liberals We blame conservatives We blame judges We blame cops We blame communities We blame mothers We blame fathers We blame workers We blame corporations We blame executives We blame bankers We blame lawyers We blame soldiers We…

  • How Jesus calls us to act now to do something audacious, in spite of ourselves, precisely because GOD is audacious a Homily for Epiphany 3B  |  Text: Mark 1:14-20 Calling I love these call stories: these stories of Jesus calling the disciples to follow him. I think they’re pure gold for us. They may not be…

  • It seems like such a good idea. Lots of waiting. Lots of opportunity. No kids running around. It is socially acceptable to ignore the people around you. The laundromat seems like a fine place to write. For some reason, I can’t. My family has had to adjust to once again not having a washer and…