I said, “I do not know how to speak. I am too young!” But the Lord answered me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak.” Jeremiah 1.6-7 In my last post, I wrote about the need for white folks to listen, to hold in some sense a long moment of silence, so that we could hear the voices we have dismissed. I still want to…
“Remember that we have two eyes and two ears, but only one mouth for a reason.” Traditional folk proverb The horrific deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and the events following are too raw and too real for any commentary grounded in reflection by a white man. These deaths call for the action we are seeing in the streets. Action that has been missing for far too long in this country. White people play a crucial role…
I had the good fortune of hearing Professor George E. Tinker, Native American theologian, speak on the matter of violence and war in the United States. Though it has been decades since I heard him, I remember vividly his analysis of our relationship with violence as an addiction. He said that getting over an addiction takes as long as the addiction existed. That idea has always stuck with me, and I believe it is a useful paradigm for us when…