Category: The Magazine

“The charges against Amy Cooper are about more than an unfortunate encounter between Amy Cooper and Christian Cooper in the Ramble. Her actions in Central Park echo behaviors that have become too-commonplace in our country: To accuse a Black man of committing an act of violence is to create in our culture a credible claim which too often automatically renders the Black man guilty and automatically exonerates other potential perpetrators.”

“I remembered the words of Karl Barth, who claimed our faith is not our own but endowed by the Lord Himself. If that were true, then my question was also a product of God’s work and was worthy of being met with trust and love. I might never find a definite answer, and that was ok. It is the question itself and the rumination it afforded that justified its very existence. I knew that as long as I kept straddling the two worlds of science and faith, those questions were bound to come up.”

“Whether I carried the oil-fueled candle or the cross with a circle looping around the intersection, I’d grip my sweaty hands around the polished wood terrified it would slip out and clatter to the ground. The thought of catching the church on fire with the weak flame was terrifying on its own, but who knew what kind of eternal consequence awaited you for dropping the cross.”

“In 1782, William White wrote the masterful pamphlet, The Case of The Episcopal Church in the United States Considered, which laid out a plan for the new Episcopal Church to be composed of both ordained and lay leadership: the House of Bishops AND the House of Deputies.”

“With a focus on Independence, I reflected on the contributions of America’s two greatest sons, George Washington, a master craftsperson in the forging of the United States and Martin Luther King, Jr., a master craftsperson in the ongoing effort to forge a united people.”