Writing, Parenting, and Working in the Mess: Authentic Spirituality and Social Justice

I received a beautiful, incredibly wise e-mail from the service-learning director at Virgina Tech today that went out to a list of service-learning practitioners. She reminded us all that the lesson in the shootings is not that we need to tighten security but rather that we need to find some way to open our hearts to the disenfranchised, alienated people in our communities. Keep doing the work, she wrote, that you already do. I read this e-mail tonight at a prayer vigil on our campus. I thought the message was so thoughtful and so brave. Sometimes at this point in the semester--not to mention this point in my career--I find myself impatient with my students, tired of attending to them. I snap at people who knock on my office door when it is closed. I ignore the student worker who comes in to organize my shelves of service-learning supplies for the week, mumbling hello but not asking how her weekend was. I get frustrated at the student who is failing, even though she's trying her be...

Psalm 118:14-29 Revelations 1:4-8 John 20: 19-31 The story of doubting Thomas relayed in John’s gospel has never held much meaning for me. Jesus shows up after his death in a small room where 10 of the remaining 11 apostles are hiding. He greets them, saying, “Peace be with you,” and he shows them the nail marks in his hands and the sword’s wound in his side in order to prove that it is truly him. (In contrast, Mary Magdalene believed as soon as she heard the risen Christ call her by name). Later, when Thomas shows up, he refuses to believe that the disciples actually saw Jesus. Jesus has to come back and show Thomas his side and hands all over again. For some reason, Thomas is singled out as especially doubtful, even though, according to this account, Jesus had to show his wounds to the other disciples as well before they believed they were truly seeing their great teacher. It is not the idea that a man could come back from the dead that seems troubling to me. People who left this lif...

This Sunday, in lieu of a meditation on the week's readings, I'm posting the service I led this morning at a gathering with friends...enjoy. I am grateful for this opportunity to lead this service and thank Pilar for the idea. It means a lot to me to have all of you here. Let me tell you a little about what this is going to be like. Last night when I finally sat down to write this, I realized it was not possible for me to write a service that was not grounded in my own spiritual tradition. But what I’m hoping to do is not to celebrate Easter exactly, but to walk you through some of the stories associated with the holiday in order to get at their universal truths. I hope this won’t be offensive to anyone. There will also be times when we are sitting in silence or when I am singing a hymn from my tradition; at these times, it’s up to you, and dependent upon your own spiritual practices, if you want to pray, reflect, meditate, or simply be attentive to what you’re experiencing. W...

Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:4b-14 John 11 and John 12: 1-19 Luke 19:28-40 I am responding to both the readings from this week and last week in the UCC lectionary and the readings from this weekend in the Greek Orthodox tradition. Together, they seem to hold the same theme of a combination of renewal and inevitable danger, extravagent love and irrational hate. In the Greek Orthodox tradition, yesterday was Lazarus Saturday, the day Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. In Greek Orthodox churches, there is a liturgy in the morning, and afterwards, the women (it is usually women) gather to dye the Easter eggs and to fold the palms into crosses. I loved Lazarus Saturday as a child; I loved the smooth palms in my hand, and I can still remember how to fold them. In John's gospel, this miracle was both the last straw that led to Jesus' death and the event that prompted the crowd's response during the triumpant entry into Jerusalem that we celebrate on Palm Sunday. On Monday, Tuesd...