“The title Stamped from the Beginning comes from a speech that Mississippi senator Jefferson Davis gave on the floor of the US Senate on April 12, 1860.” (Pg. 3) It’s the summation of so much. This is a book about the many forms that racist ideas have taken throughout...

Prayer for September 14, 2021: Please pray with me. God of reality, we live in the reality you created. And at the same time, we have our own realities – realities of our beliefs, language, values, and identity. Often these realities are far different than the reality you create....

I participate in Quora. It’s a website where people ask and answer questions – all sorts of questions. I love reading the questions that people ask about politics and religion, among other subjects. Some of them are quite funny. Some questions are clearly leading questions – not really interested...

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Prayer for September 13, 2021: Please pray with me. God of Wisdom, you call out. Your voice cannot be ignored. Yet the willfully ignorant refuse to listen. Soften our hearts that we may not reject your wisdom, but rather embrace it. You give what we need, and too often...

The Semi-Continuous Old Testament reading for yesterday was from Proverbs 1:20-37. Scholars generally believe that Proverbs was written in its current form around the fourth century BCE. This proverb could have just as easily been written yesterday. Take a look: “Wisdom cries out in the street;   in the squares she...

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I had been looking forward to reading this book for some time now. I’ve read Wink’s essay on the Myth of Redemptive Violence and wanted to read more of his writings. This book did not disappoint. “The Powers That Be are more than just the people who run things....

Prayer for September 8, 2021: Please pray with me. God of Shalom, you are always enough. You provide enough. Why do we keep searching for more? What is it about humanity that we are never satisfied. Which makes no sense when it comes to you. How could be not...

It’s really easy to be down. The world makes it easy. Just observe what is shared. Observe what others are paying attention to. Observe what draws attention. Conflict, death, destruction, separation, power, etc. None of this is new. I’m reading a book that traces some history and what is...