Tag: Freedom

  • In the Shadow of Bullies and Hypocrites

    In the Shadow of Bullies and Hypocrites

    Grief Will Make You Take Stock and Clean House Over the past few weeks, I have been doing a lot of reflection on my personal history in the Church and my relationship to my fellow human beings. A lot of it is in light of how the church treated Carlton Pearson. Ever since I went…

  • The Burden

    The Burden

    Almost every Black person I know who has grown up in America knows what it’s like to feel the existential burden placed upon us that says, “You represent your entire race.”

  • To Governor Abbott of TX on Behalf of Rodney Reed on Death Row

    To Governor Abbott of TX on Behalf of Rodney Reed on Death Row

    When a parishioner from the church I serve emailed me this past Friday reminding me that the mother of Rodney Reed, the man on death row in TX whose case has grabbed the attention of millions, was the caregiver of her father before he passed it hit me hard. She had mentioned this to me…

  • Escaping the Prison Industrial Mindset

    Escaping the Prison Industrial Mindset

    Tonight I realized that I feel safer in cars that look like I can afford them. That is a sad awareness that I need to work on more deeply. How I realized this was that I had to rent a car. I had a coupon that enabled me to get a compact for the same…

  • Be Still And Know: Who Is the Free One?

    What is freedom? It’s one of those words that is used frequently, but I suspect many of us have no idea what it really means. I have come to the conclusion that when most people use the word, it is a way of saying, “I want to be able to do whatever I want to…

  • Think What You Want to Think and Other Things Pastors Aren’t Supposed to Say

    As I said in the video, I feel like this blog was a long time coming.  Since I accepted the “call to ministry”, I have wrestled with different ways that I naturally express myself.  Here are four things that easily came out of my mouth that made me think I was unqualified for public ministry:…