We are all gathered in a small chapel for our normal good Friday service, the candles are lit, the incense is ready, but then Ta-Nahesi Coates stands up in the middle of the service, faces the congregation, and begins to speak: “When a black man dies, everyone wants to talk about forgiving the killer.They want to weave hisContinue reading “Good Friday: The Day God Dies (or Ta-Nahesi Coates, Miroslav Volf & N.T. Wright have a conversation about bodies)”
Author Archives: Steph E
Stuff Wars (pt2): Six lies I believe about my stuff
Recently this humorous advertisement for a clothing store popped up in my newsfeed. It’s referencing the very “tidying up” method I talked about in my last stuff post. Ironically, it’s talking all about getting rid of things, spring cleaning and minimizing– while advertising a clothing brand. We’re so weird in America. We can sell moreContinue reading “Stuff Wars (pt2): Six lies I believe about my stuff”
That Saved a Wretch Like Me
We’re heading into the bloodiness of Holy Week in just a little while. Good Friday looms at the end of Lent, this horrible black, silent day where we actually contemplate the slow suffocation of a Palestinian Jew on a cross. Uh, depressing. I’d much rather skip it and get to the chocolate Easter eggs onContinue reading “That Saved a Wretch Like Me”
An Uprooting
But we can’t receive that grace if we don’t think we need it. For reconciliation and restoration to occur, we have to acknowledge there’s a problem… The question is not, “What is Jesus telling black people in this moment?” The question is, “What is Jesus telling me in this moment? Me, a white person?”
Nation Building: Our country, not “this country”
I’ve been out of the loop on the #Zumamustfall campaigns that spread across South Africa at the end of last year calling for the removal of our corrupt president (protestors are pointing to things like Nkandla, the mansion Zuma built with tax payer money- protest chant is simply “Pay back the money!”) I’ve been out ofContinue reading “Nation Building: Our country, not “this country””
Stuff Wars: Tidying Up
The Stuff Series: Since being in America, I’ve been thinking a lot more about possessions and the amount of stuff I own, and how I interact with this stuff. Here’s the first bit. I finally read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. This is coupled with a new obsessionContinue reading “Stuff Wars: Tidying Up”
On Corporate Confession: A Prayer for Black History Month
Over Christmas break, I was drinking coffee with two of my favorite people in the world (who actually had never met each other). We only had an hour, so there was zero small talk and we went straight to the good stuff like the role of women in the church and diversity and reconciliation and theseContinue reading “On Corporate Confession: A Prayer for Black History Month”
On the danger of standing ovations
<< If you haven’t read Go Set A Watchman this post is full of spoilers.>> My introduction to To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee was sitting in a hot tenth-grade English class, in South Africa, while deep South dialect was read slowly, out loud, in English-South-African accents. We were doing The Cambridge System, which,Continue reading “On the danger of standing ovations”
Flight Behavior: On identity, climate change, and the evangelical tribe
Identity was the word of the year in 2015. Which I like, because I’m obsessed with thinking about how identity works in shaping our world. There’s people who think stuff happens in the social world primarily because people are rational and weighing the pros and cons and acting in their own self-interest. Then there’s peopleContinue reading “Flight Behavior: On identity, climate change, and the evangelical tribe”
Glitter in my veins & Jesus in my heart: thoughts on texas
So, people have been asking for stories about Texas. And oh, how I want to comply. I have stories. I have stories about going to a rodeo, and the culture shock of all the American flag-waving, horse-riding, gun-toting, public-place praying, Mexican-immigrant joking that went on. I’ve been told that the announcer with his off-color jokesContinue reading “Glitter in my veins & Jesus in my heart: thoughts on texas”
Stephanie Ebert 