First Sunday of Advent (Year A, RCL)

In the midst of anxiety, it can sound like an attractive option for a swift end to come.

Justice is complicated--even when it is the law of God.

Loving the neighbor with whom we disagree

"Whom are you trying to catch?" I asked my roommate. "Probably nobody," he said.

It’s troubling to imagine the Son of man arriving with criminal intent.

I feared it would last a week. Then came the moment of truth.

RAWtools began with a blacksmith and a friend’s donated AK-47.

When Jews, Christians, and Muslims gather to celebrate arts and culture, the dividing walls crumble.

We need the prophets to unmask power’s seductions.

We are not prepared to be judged by Matthew.

While we're preparing for Jesus' birth, these texts talk about getting ready for the Second Coming.

When I was baptized at 12, I refused what Baptists call “the right hand of fellowship.” I wanted the water but not the fellowship.

I loved writing Wearing God in part because it allowed me to rove around archives from more or less every century of the Christian past. The biblical images for God that most (American?) churches today largely ignore were decidedly not ignored in earlier eras.

The household I grew up in did not have a lot of rules. My parents were first-generation immigrants who worked 12 hours a day, six days a week. So even if we'd had a lot of rules, they would not have been home to enforce most of them.