” Historical vestry minutes clearly show our ancestors promoted discriminatory real estate and neighborhood design practices that were designed to “protect the whiteness of Bolton Hill” and they even fired a rector who tried to welcome our African American neighbors.”
Paul sums it up in the Epistle, Romans 3:21-31, righteousness through the Law and circumcision and the righteousness through faith of the uncircumcised, when he writes, “since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.”
“I want that kind, humble black or perhaps brown man. Where has He been these 2,000 years? If I wipe off the plaster and paint of our statues will he be there underneath?”
“But I wonder if Hagar had nightmares. Nightmares of being forced to lie with her master. Nightmares of death by heat exposure and thirst even after finding her new life in Paran. I wonder if Ishmael remembered the little brother he played with, who ended up with all the love of the father who loved Ishmael less. I wonder if the pain, the humiliation, the loss, the separation, the bitterness stayed with them.”
“Christianity is a religion of transformation: think of Paul’s appeal to transform one’s mind in alignment with the radical new freedom inaugurated by Jesus’ resurrection. It is a religion, even, of revolution: think of Mary’s song about how her son will cast down the mighty and lift up the poor and hungry.”
“Proverbs is one book of the Bible that has something for just about every occasion. In looking up the word “joy,” I found, “A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken. The mind of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. All the days of the poor are hard, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast” (15:13-15).”
“I Said to Godhead:
The first rule of radio is that dead air freaks people out, makes them change the station. When there should be sound, and is none, is uncomfortable. Are you even listening to me? You can almost hear people straining their ears to hear you, to catch one note echoing back in reply to a prayer, a plea, a please. Do you even have a sound, a vibration? Pure silence is impossible to hear because our ears make a faint noise when listening—it is our eardrums humming a bit. Do I sound crazy because it’s the truth? It’s true—we can’t hear silence because our own bodies are so loud, our biology reminding us we’re not rotting, not yet. You must know that our ear drums continue to vibrate for a while after we’re dead. Is that you, finally?”
The Lord’s justice will be done; we can be ready and welcome it or we can stand against it; but it will come nonetheless.
special guest Maya Little-Saña, discuss Jesus’ promise from this week’s gospel reading that the pathway to peace will be paved with uncomfortable conversations and tensions in our closest relationships
From the Diocese of South Carolina: South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Edgar Dickson, tasked in November 2017 by the South Carolina Supreme Court (SCSC) with