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At least they are counting
On June 1, The Guardian launched a new site: The Counted. The US government has no comprehensive record of the number of people killed by law enforcement. This lack of basic data has been glaring amid the protests, riots and worldwide debate set in motion by the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, in Ferguson,…
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What If the Church Believed in Eternal Life?
When Jesus speaks of eternal life, he isn’t talking about forever. Many of us learn this in seminary or when we read books about scripture. That this phrase Jesus uses*, “eternal life” doesn’t mean what we think it means. Or to be more precise, doesn’t communicate only the narrow understanding we take it for. The…
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At the end of a very long week
I have decided to end the week like I begin it. Or how I hoped to begin the week. At Starbucks, drinking coffee, writing. One activity I know brings fulfillment and hope for me. Of course, this week was different. It didn’t begin with writing and planning and organizing. It began with a phone call.…
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Bringing Death Out of the Shadows: Brittany Maynard and self-determination
In making her struggles and decisions about death public, Brittany Maynard has invited a welcome conversation about death and dying. Now, I suspect many wouldn’t call the conversation “welcome”. Others welcome the opportunity to shame and shun rather than converse. For many in the church, it is an opportunity to shake our heads and say…
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Focus on the Body
The body of Michael Brown lay in the street for over four hours. Nearly every conversation I have had or story I’ve consumed about Michael Brown has focused on the circumstances or the politics surrounding his death. We have focused on what led up to the shooting, about the character, the police, the press, the…
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To Choose
a homily for Proper 18C Text: Luke 14:25-33 Listen and read along! The Choice This might shock you, but when pastors get together, we talk about you. Not you in the particular. We talk about congregations and what we hear each Sunday as we shake hands. This is often the only time we get feedback…
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Christianity and the Falling Man
From Surreal to Real Hearing that a plane had hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center wasn’t the most arresting thing I heard eleven years ago. At work, the rampant speculating, the absurd discontinuity of airplanes and buildings in far away places made the tragedy distant somehow. News spread in the waning minutes…