Reads of the Week
1) More Than Three Minutes: Resistance and Grace in Ferguson by Richard Beck
"Because that will be a temptation. Again, if Darren Wilson is "innocent" many will feel safe to move on. And if Darren Wilson is found "guilty" many will feel safe to blame him and judge him as a sinner. The shooting of Michael Brown would have been caused by one individual's moral failure, a lapse in virtue and piety. A mistake. Or the product of a "bad person." Which means the guilt of Darren Wilson gets the system and our history off the hook. Guilt can be reduced to an individual, reduced to those three minutes. Daren Wilson can become the scapegoat for the system."
2) An Ancient Prayer Saved My Faith by David R. Henson
"My faith was saved, again, that first time I blessed bread and wine, and realized I had come home after wandering so long. And in countless celebrations since, I've had my faith saved in the blessing of bread and wine, when something more than I can ever imagine or pretend happens, when simple things become holy things, revealing that all simple things are holy things. Like the oily mark of Chrism on an infant's head, on a teenager's forehead, the weight of a stole and chasuble, the new light in the darkness of an Easter Vigil."
3) Birthday Celebrations and Awkward Feelings: Let the Little Children Lead by Abby Norman
"Can I tell you that it is hard to feel awkward sometimes at a neighbor's birthday party? Can I tell you that sometimes, in a store where I am the only white lady, I am extra embarrassed when my children throw a fit? Not just because my children are throwing a fit, but because I hear the things that people used to tell me, about white parents and fit throwing children. Can I tell you that my black friends deal with this every single day, but it isn't just a matter of feeling awkward? It is a matter of making sure their kids stay alive."
4) Does It Help To Know History? by Adam Gopnik
"The advantage of having a historical sense is not that it will lead you to some quarry of instructions, the way Superman can regularly return to the Fortress of Solitude to get instructions from his dad, but that it will teach you that no such crystal cave exists. What history generally "teaches" is how hard it is for anyone to control it, including the people who think they're making it."
5) We Underestimate the Foolish and the Kind Ones by Sarah Bessey
"I'm also suspicious of empire tactics being baptized and employed to "build the Kingdom of God." My soul recoils from the use of the very tactics of the empire - silencing, bullying, judging, other-ing, dehumanizing, mocking, name-calling, ganging up and piling on, violence - used against the oppressed and marginalized, now somehow being used for "good purpose." I see this tendency in my own soul and it grieves me."
Honorable Mention
Sermon on the Beatitudes by Nadia Bolz Weber
The Foolish Debate by Nate Pyle
What Does It Really Mean to Have Faith? by Zack Hunt
Tweets of the Week
"No one saw it coming. The students took over on the 1st day of school, led by the Kindergarteners who weren't yet drones of the system." - @VeryShortStory
"NBC: We exist! Since….I don’t know, we sort of lost count." - @revlucymeg
"TV filmed This Is Where I Leave You on an iPod Touch over summer break with all its friends. TV’s mom said it was 'VERY good, sweetie.'" - @tvoti
Song of the Week
"The Mariner's Revenge Song" by The Decemberists
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