Tag: Inspiration

  • Is Jesus Made Up?

    Is Jesus Made Up?

    Yes. Jesus is made up. Haha made you look. 😂 I’m talking about the name “Jesus” (Jeezuss) In response to a Facebook post I did someone said they wondered why some cultures (aka Latin influenced) feel comfortable naming their sons Jesus and others don’t. Here is my long answer. It is worth reading if you’re…

  • Counting It All As Loss: The Faithful Choice of Carlton D. Pearson

    Counting It All As Loss: The Faithful Choice of Carlton D. Pearson

    Ever since it was announced that Bishop Carlton Pearson was ill, people have been commenting on the implications of his legacy in the Christian Church. There have been debates and panel discussions, Youtube personalities have been throwing out vitriolic commentaries and random people were wishing ill of him as if it was earning them some…

  • My 6 y/o’s Song for the World – Questions of Life

    My 6 y/o’s Song for the World – Questions of Life

    My little one is a force. Yesterday she decided that she wanted to make a song for the world and that I needed to “put it all over the internet today!” Being in a sensitive and tender space right now grieving my friend, I am trying to be mindful about not wasting opportunities to do…

  • Grief is a Midwife

    Grief is a Midwife

    Grief is a midwife, giving birth to who we’d never be without loss’ seed.Realizing that you’ll never again be who you used to be makes room for who you are becomingSo let yourself weep. Be emptied of who you’ve beenBecause someone wiser, more capable, and more honest is waiting to emergeEverything you held back, waiting…

  • A Black Guy and an Indigenous Guy Talk About Thanksgiving

    A Black Guy and an Indigenous Guy Talk About Thanksgiving

    If you are like me and my guest, Chickasaw Comedian Blake Pickens, your childhood education around the first Thanksgiving holiday was filled with stories of pilgrims, buckle hats, and happy Indigenous folks. This happened two years after my folks came to America for our “internships”. Since learning about the histories of our peoples, I have…

  • Once a Pastor, Always a Pastor?

    Once a Pastor, Always a Pastor?

    Whenever I describe myself as a former pastor, almost always, someone says, “once a pastor, always a pastor.” To which I usually respond with shrugged shoulders, and say something to the effect of, “I don’t know.” I’ve been trying to figure out what that statement means to folks––“once a pastor, always a pastor.“ Is that…

  • A Miscarriage of the Nations: Where are the Founding Mothers?

    A Miscarriage of the Nations: Where are the Founding Mothers?

    “Women are the true architects of peace. Their strength, resilience, and wisdom have the power to transform societies and build a more peaceful world.” – Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, MBE, Founder and Executive Director of the International Civil Society Action Network. Yes. This title is provocative. But, we are in perilous times and sometimes you have…

  • Being Is The Way (Greater Things)

    Being Is The Way (Greater Things)

    In this message, I challenge us to consider that the greater things that are in us are easier done than said. All of life is waiting for us to be who we can be. Erich Fromm, social psychologist and author of To Have or To Be said: Our capacity to choose changes constantly with our…

  • How Do We Live When Paradise Burns?

    How Do We Live When Paradise Burns?

    Just a week before the fires that devastated Lahaina, and ultimately Maui, all of Hawaii, and the world, I said goodbye to the banyan tree at the heart of that place that has become almost sacred to me. I literally spoke to it in my heart and thanked it for enduring as long as it…

  • Diversity and the Rightness of Being Wrong

    Diversity and the Rightness of Being Wrong

    Doing the Right Thing the Wrong Way Did you know that by doing the right thing the wrong way, you could do a lot more harm than good? You don’t have to look any further than the many tone deaf ad campaigns that somehow still make it out in the world and see that if…