I want to share some thoughts about Reading Genesis, by Marilynne Robinson. I can’t remember who first told me about this literary commentary on Genesis, written by one of my favorite authors, but I do know that as soon as I heard about it, I went online and bought it right away. I know something about her and her faith, from her well-known “Gilead novels,” which include Gilead, Home, Lila, and Jack, all of which are about the families of Rev. John Ames and Rev. Robert Boughton.  Robinson is a Calvinist, and that perspective definitely comes through in her interpretation of Genesis. Over ..read more

Disruption is hard. Many of us, as we continue to learn how to interrupt behaviors that are toxic and situations that are negative or harmful, recognize how challenging it is to take a pause, call timeout, or disrupt the flow. We don’t want to call attention to ourselves, we don’t want to embarrass others, we don’t want to make a scene. It is so much easier to just let things go and say something later. I know all this to be true, because this is exactly what I did yesterday, and I have been regretting it ever since. Here’s the situation. We had a large worship service on Wednesday, which is ..read more

At dawn on that first Easter morning, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb with spices to anoint Jesus’ body. There was just one problem: an enormous stone was blocking their way. There was no way they were going to be able to roll away that stone, and they knew it, but they went anyway. And I find that amazing. They had hope, they had faith, they had something that made them think, in spite of all the odds, in spite of all signs to the contrary, they would be able to walk into the tomb and do what they felt called to do: anoint Jesus’ body.  I find their ..read more

Members of the Wartburg Seminary community have been writing short daily devotions during the Lenten season, and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to start my morning with these meaningful reflections. Last week, two of my colleagues, Dr. Samantha Gilmore [our preaching professor], and the Rev. Dr. Troy Troftgruben [our New Testament professor] each wrote a really beautiful devotion that I read and re-read multiple times. I wanted to share them; I hope you enjoy them, too.  From Dr. Samantha Gilmore: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and ..read more

This is my Wartburg Lenten devotion from today; Judas is plays a pretty significant role in my Lenten reflections, especially during Holy Week, and so I wanted to share this devotion here, too. When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? See to it yourself.’ Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself.” Matthew 27:3-5 There is no m ..read more

I read this book after reading an article about it in The New Yorker. Wiman is a poet, and is fighting a rare form of cancer. He is still alive beyond when the doctors all said he should be dead. In this book, he offers poems, personal reflections, quotes and other short meditations that combine a stubborn [if unconventional] Christian faith, an in-your-face staredown with death, and what I suppose could be called hope, if you squint when you look closely. They may be entries against despair, but they are certainly entries that feel the presence of despair breathing down the neck. I have to b ..read more

I want to share a bit about a book I just finished: Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think about Race and Identity, by Michele Norris, the creator of The Race Card Project. I first read about this book in The New York Times, and as soon as I read the story, I knew I had to have the book. More than a decade ago, Norris began asking people to participate in a project that she eventually called “The Race Card Project.” The prompt was simple: Race. Your story. Six words. Please send. Initially, she printed 200 little black postcards with those words on the front, and just left them ..read more

One of the things that I love about the Lutheran liturgical tradition is the way the language of the prayers, sung parts of the service, etc. become so familiar after years of recitation that I know them by heart. It is comforting to enter into a worship space and be carried through the service without having to wonder what is coming next or struggle to follow along. [There is probably another blog post here about what that means for newcomers and visitors to our congregations–and just how welcoming our services really are–but I am not going to talk about that here.] But, of course, the drawb ..read more

Did you see the movie “Barbie”? I finally got around to watching it on our flight to Tanzania—I think we all did!—and I’m glad I saw it; it is definitely thought-provoking, and it is also quite entertaining. I read a review of it in The New Yorker when it first came out, and I agree with at least one point the reviewer made: the movie tries to do too much, careening from comedy [Ryan Gosling is absolutely hilarious] to serious social commentary to satire to silliness to self-importance. But, the performances are very good, and, as I said, there is certainly a lot to reflect on. I think the on ..read more

Meeting with our Tanzanian Wartburg alums We are sitting at the airport in Arusha, waiting for our flight to Amsterdam—both looking forward to being home and sad about saying goodbye. It has been an amazing trip and we are still processing all we learned and all the ways we have been changed. Beth’s final question for us was, “How will you pray differently after this experience?” It is a great question that we are still contemplating! I have two days to catch up on, but I want to start with today. We spent the morning doing tourist shopping in Arusha, which was both very fun and a little overw ..read more