It has been several months since I last wrote to you with a few reflections on race and the importance of “double listening.” I have been doing a lot of listening since then: reading, watching, praying and meeting for one-on-one discussion. I have delved into Scripture, history and the personal stories of friends and strangers. It has been…
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” St. John’s Gospel (1:14 NRSV) A central message of the Christian faith is that God saves what God assumes. Or, rather, God makes holy that which…
The Episcopal Church in the United States was in crisis. Its leadership had strayed from the traditional and historic teachings of the Church, particularly those dealing with the authority of scripture. Simply put, it was a controversy about the Bible. At issue was not just a few individual passages, as is often alleged, but the…
The plan was for Gil and me to travel to Great Britain and spend several weeks of vacation visiting as many museums and used bookstores in London as possible, followed by a tour of the countryside and concluding with a forage into northwest England in search of Greggs family records (as far as we can…
It was nearly six weeks ago that George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer over the course of nearly nine horrifying minutes. The video of Floyd’s death led to weeks of peaceful protest and periodic violent looting that gripped the headlines and tore at our hearts. It also led our nation into a…
Morning is the worst time of day for those in the grip of suffering. The nauseating jolt back into consciousness is accompanied by acute sensation: the foul odor and tinny taste of a too-parched mouth is complemented by the needling pain of dry eyelids on dryer eyes. Your body seems to want to participate in…
Many of us are finding it difficult to disciple our children during this painful time, and rightfully so. Some of us have talked with our children about topics around race their whole lives and others are doing so for the first time. Some have experienced racism firsthand and find it painful to introduce these realities…
For me, this is a fractured time. Plans for exciting international travel are dashed. Visits with family in other cities on hold. The serendipity of seeing friends and meeting new people at church postponed. And now grief over the recent tragedies and current unrest. Yet, I’m extremely blessed. I thank our Father for a loving…
I so long for normalcy, for life to go back to the way it was. And I’m thinking you do, too. But I’ve had to face the fact that normalcy is not possible right now, and that some aspects of life may not go back to the way things were before the coronavirus. For some…
Yesterday morning we awoke to the sad news of looting and destruction in downtown Raleigh. What began with a peaceful protest on Saturday afternoon turned senselessly violent after dark, and the unrest continues. We are grieved and overwhelmed. Our wounded city needs healing, and we know that as God’s people we must be part of…