Wandering Through the Desert: Sifting Through Our Past on our Way to Revelation
During Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we cast our sins in to the desert, freeing ourselves from their oppressive burden, unshackling our hearts and minds so that we can begin the year anew. Six months later another new year arrives (Exodus 12:12). After a period of enslavement we find ourselves once again loosening our chains and opening our souls, ready to reencounter that which we cast away.
A Spring Reflection on Potential, Expectations, and Possibly Oppressive Lifestyles
Our current topic is spring as rebirth and, being an earth spiritualist, I wasn’t quite sure what to say first. Around this time of year, I reflect on the holidays as a growth of personal initiative and potential, the symbolic quickening of sprouting seeds, the re-awakened earth that can be felt, smelled, tasted, breathed. This [...]
Let the Millennials Speak
My eyes begin to move clock-wise around the circle, pausing briefly to engage with the words and hidden fears of the heterogeneous mixture of individuals that occupied the seats around me. The topic of discourse was two-fold: is the institution relevant and where do we go from here? Intentionally, I begin to ruminate about what [...]
A Prayer for Homeless Youth
Winter is loitering in Minnesota this year, even though we’ve asked it to move along. Last Thursday brought a half-foot of snow, and April 19th achieved a record low of 21 degrees before the sun came up on Saturday. The 19th was also the date for Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative’s annual event, A Night on the Street. [...]
Living In and Through Tragedy
It has been a tough week to be in Boston. It is almost as hard to add anything to all that has been written about the tragedy, confusion, and sadness that the week brought to Boston and to the world as it looked on. Two seemingly contradictory themes stood out for me, first in my [...]
Happy Birthday, Stella: When Children Die
April 18th, 2013 Today marks Stella Joy Bruner-Methven’s fourth birthday. She died last year, on October 22nd, just days after she turned 3 1/2. Although today is Stella’s birthday, she does not turn four. An egregious tumor, incurable and virtually untreatable, took this birthday from her. And before it did that, it took away almost [...]
Tragedy: A Quaker and an Anthropologist’s Response
How does your faith or ethical tradition inform your response to tragedies? In the wake of the devastating blasts in Boston, one Twitter user, Mike_FTW, has gained fame for stating: In times of tragedy Twitter should go into Quaker mode. Shut up or be meaningful. — Mike Monteiro (@Mike_FTW) April 15, 2013 The question, [...]
In Gratitude and Solidarity: A Love Letter to Boston from A Former Student
Dear Boston, I owe you so much. I really do. You are the place where my interfaith journey began. At the beginning of my freshman year at Boston University, I never met anyone who wasn’t a Christian of some sort. I was already interested in other faiths, but *knowing* people of other faiths turned an [...]
“Give them hope, not hell:” A thing left undone
Conversations in the cafeteria are where much of the real theological work gets done at my seminary, where students hash out their thoughts on what was discussed in the class just ended or the readings for the class soon to begin. Throw in some pop culture references, season with puns, and you’ve got a party. [...]
Towards Acceptance, Holiness and Removing Stumbling Blocks
This week, we are once again reading Parashat Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27). Biblical scholars commonly refer to these two chapters of Leviticus as the holiness code due to the numerous interpersonal commandments (mitzvot) that are found within. These mitzvot form the foundation of Torah and are applicable to everyone. In addition to loving our neighbor as [...]
Contributing Scholars
Robyn Henderson-EspinozaSelf-identified as a Christian Agnostic and QueerMestizo (of Mexican & Anglo heritage), Robyn is a Ph.D Student at the University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology, Denver, CO focussing on Social Ethics with an primary interest in ethics in the US Borderlands. Robyn uses queer theories, Critical Chican@ Studies, and queer epistemologies to consider Ethics.
Edward AndersonGraduate of Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Currently studying Inter-religious studies at Claremont Lincoln University/ Claremont School of Theology. Interested in Christian mysticism, philosophy, political science, pluralism, pop-culture and post-colonialism.
Paul Joseph GreenePaul Joseph Greene is attending the second year of his doctoral program, seeking a Ph.D. in systematic theology at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota. "Let's talk interreligiously about liberation, identity, power, privilege, creative transformation, process, politics, and Glee! And by virtue of our relationship, let's become a new creation together."