“Get up, boy!” the voice hissed in my right ear. I could feel the chair shake as the person stood behind me and tried to forcefully shake me out of my chair. “He said get up, you filthy ***. This place ain’t fer your kind.” The counter to my right banged sharply in my leftContinue reading “The violence of nonviolence”
Tag Archives: reconciliation
The Table
We had communion at church last week. At my church we all line up, and walk down to the front to receive the bread and wine. On Camino, we did this as weary, dirty, pilgrims with the dust of the day’s hike still on our faces. On Sunday, I did it as a weary, worn-outContinue reading “The Table”
To my friends who are relieved today
I love you guys. I know you were afraid. You were afraid that the America you knew was falling apart. Maybe you were really worried about our national debt. Maybe you were worried about the lives of unborn babies. Maybe you were worried that your church would lose its tax-exempt status because it understands marriageContinue reading “To my friends who are relieved today”
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”
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”
Identity & Reconciliation: A quick reflection on “The End of Memory”
Volf ends his book talking about how it should have a warning label because it is hazardous to two cherished notions: 1. We should remember wrongs solely out of concern for victims and 2. We should forever remember wrongs suffered. It seems crazy to argue that we should remember in a way that is fair, andContinue reading “Identity & Reconciliation: A quick reflection on “The End of Memory””
2. Two Part book Summary: The End of Memory, Miroslav Volf
This is a continuation of my summary of the book The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World by Miroslav Volf. For part one, go here. The last part of the book, part three, asks the question how long we should remember. I don’t know how many reconciliation seminars I’ve been to thatContinue reading “2. Two Part book Summary: The End of Memory, Miroslav Volf”
1. Two part Book summary: The End of Memory by Miroslav Volf
My birthday, senior year of college, I missed hearing one of my favorite authors, Miroslav Volf, speaking at Taylor. My loving fiancé attended his talk, and got his most recent book (at the time) autographed for me. This book has been sitting on a shelf in the attic in Minnesota for the past three years,Continue reading “1. Two part Book summary: The End of Memory by Miroslav Volf”
Stories and Social Justice (a sandwich)
sometimes I get this longing for something beautiful. I hear sermons on theological abstract principles that don’t inspire me, so I go home and write what would have inspired me.
A Poem for Mandela Day
The Sharnbrook team from the UK was able to be a part of Mandela Day (Madiba’s birthday and a day of community service here).They partnered with a local school in Sweetwaters, and together with the gogos (grandmothers) and mamas of the children in the school, we repainted almost the entire school. In the media in SAContinue reading “A Poem for Mandela Day”
Stephanie Ebert 