The book of Jonah is full of satire and surprise. It feels familiar because it is a go-to Bible story for kids and cartoons. However, we might miss how Jonah is a kind of parable with a plot twist that is meant to challenge our ways of thinking and acting in the world. It’s all…
Prayers We Keep Praying: How Long? It’s been 251 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2019 so far… Lord, “We don’t know what we should pray.” We “wait breathless”, we feel weak and frustrated at all the suffering — and don’t know how to give expression to our inner groaning. [1] Lord we asked you to “teach us…
An Alternative 100 Day Action Plan With the recent presidential election comes the release of an action plan for the first 100 days. People are trying to figure out how to respond to the current political climate. Some are protesting while others are rejoicing. Some are wearing safety pins to show they are a safe…
The Central Question of Our Times: Who is Worthy? I can’t get the power of narrative out of my mind. So I keep asking, what storyline will your life follow? What vision will inspire your action in the present and your hope for the future? I think God’s Story of love, redemption, breaking down walls,…
Prophetic Lament in the Face of Violence I find it hard to find the words to say, but silence is not helpful either. God rebukes the priests and prophets through Jeremiah, saying: “They treat the wound of my people as if it were nothing: “All is well, all is well,” they insist, when in fact nothing…
Thought Provoking Insights from Vincent Harding Vincent Harding died this May at the age of 82. Hearing his interviews with Krista Tippett on her podcast On Being inspire and challenge me. He offers us the wisdom of someone who has “been there” and “seen it” firsthand. Born in Harlem, working alongside Martin Luther King Jr., a…
In March it was projected that Latinos would become the largest ethnic or racial population in California. The year 2042 is now a well known marker for when experts project that whites will be the statistical minority in the U.S. Our current reality is that more and more people live at the crossroads, the intersection of peoples and nations from…
The Complexity of Leading Well in a Globalized World Living today in the twenty-first century means living in a postmodern, urban, global, and interconnected society. This reality leads to an ever increasing cross-cultural interaction, a diversity of experiences, and collaboration across geographical, political, ethnic, and socio-economic lines. The flattening of the world—including ease of communication, travel,…
I was enjoying a cup of coffee while reading outside of a Barnes & Noble. The table I was sitting at faced an AT&T store. I glanced up and saw a good looking man in a suit walking confidently towards the exit. Only he was headed straight for the large, floor to ceiling glass window, not…
