by Ben Howard and Sebastian Faust Reads of the Week 1) The Evil at Our Borders: Migrants, Refugees, and the Spiritual Crisis of Immigration by David R. Henson "For conservatives, it is an immigration crisis, demonstrating the failures of the U.S. immigration policy and the need for militarized borders. For liberals, it is a humanitarian crisis, demonstrating the failures of U.S. economic policy, the immediate need for aid, and the necessity of immigration reform. For me, while I agree with progressives here, it is also a profoundly spiritual crisis. It is a crisis of faith, and right now, we are not the bearers of liberty, hope, democracy, or good news. Rather, we are the bearers of evil." 2) Re-thinking Communion by Christena Cleveland "It seems that the way we do communion in many churches is too easy, too convenient, too painless, too safe, too inorganic, too separate from actual reconciliation work, and too individualistic. I’m starting to think that the way we do communion is not scandalous enough to represent the cross." 3) Hebel, Grace and the Art of Andy Goldsworthy: Part 2, Living as a Sacrament by Richard Beck "Here's what I mean. Today each of us will wander out into the world. And around us we'll find all sorts people and all sorts of situations. It's a fractal, messy, and chaotic world out there. And it's not all bad. There are beautiful things, like flowers, out there. But there is also sadness and brokenness, conflict and deadness. And what we'll try to do today (or what we should be doing today) is very similar to what Goldsworthy does. We will try, given what we find out there, to bring grace and beauty into the world." 4)Authentic Modesty: Compassion Over Shame by Saskia Wishart "Imagine if we, as women who love, started talking about how we deal with harassment from men on the street instead of slut-shaming women for drawing the harassment. My hope is that we learn to look with compassion, not lust. That we can place value, rather than casting shame. My hope is that we understand that body parts are only the start of the story, and there is so much more to be known about an individual." 5) "Why I Use Birth Control": 11 Women Speak Up by Rachel Held Evans "Opinions about the ruling aside, I’ve been stunned by some of the misinformation circulating around social media about contraception, the most unhelpful of which characterizes women who use contraception as 'entitled,' 'sluts,' 'moochers,' and 'whores.' I’ve shared my own thoughts on contraception in a post entitled 'Privilege and the Pill,' but today I wanted to yield the floor to ten women whose stories challenge these unfair caricatures. I am incredibly grateful for their bravery and honesty in stepping forward to tell the truth of their experiences. Please, listen." Honorable Mention The Saddest - and Classiest - Soccer Fan by Jason Morehead How Secrets Made Me Sick by J. Gettin' on the Mat by Diana Trautwein Tweets of the Week "An exclamation point is like a tiny little crutch for your joke." - @bazecraze
"God was dead. But the show had to go on. His doppelgänger Göd stepped in, executed the Apocalypse to rapturous applause." - @VikramParalkar
"Crossfitters are the Boy Scouts of the adult world." - @chettarcheese On Pop Theology Week in Review Because I Know You: Friendship and Tom Cruise by Charity Erickson "The other day, I went to see Edge of Tomorrow, the newest addition to Tom Cruise’s rather extensive sci-fi repertoire." Elephants in the Room: Israel, Palestine, and the Nature of Oppression by David Creech "My natural disposition is to side with those who are oppressed. I also prefer to hear people tell their own story rather than insert my opinions from the outside. Enter the Israel-Palestine conflict." Song of the Week "Lanterns" by Birds of Tokyo
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by Ben Howard Reads of the Week 1) These Hallowed Grounds: Our Story by Benjamin Moberg "My brother and dad are with me and if you look at us, you might think that this has been a breeze. Don’t let the winks and nods fool you, our laughs are a long time coming. Take a walk down our memories of the last two years to a late night in October and you’d see how deep we were. You’d hear me choking out my secret, her heart breaking in half, and several, painful minutes in which she cannot breathe." 2) Vigilante by John Blase "I don’t know why but the Lord would say to me/boy, look and see and I looked and saw the bones beneath/their suits, boast and swagger barbwire spines" 3) A Sermon on Faith, Doubt, and Mustard Seed Necklaces by Nadia Bolz-Weber "I think we sometime mistakenly think having faith is like being the little engine who could – I think I can I think I can…and if we just muster up enough – a tiny mustard size amount of faith we can do anything – we can trust God when things are bad and never struggle or doubt and we can even uproot bushes into a watery grave if for some reason we think that’s what is called for." 4) Lament by Saskia Wishart "Maybe it is time we learn to say less, and enter in more. To walk beside those who are stricken by loss. Maybe it is time to allow all the sadness and frustration at the world to bubble up and spill over the edge of the pages, finding their way into silence." 5) It's Okay Not to Have an Answer by Sarah Markley "If I’m honest, I have trouble making a big deal out of things that don’t affect the work of the Kingdom today. If I’m honest, and I try to always be, I have trouble seeing how things like billions versus thousands affect my relationship with Jesus and how arguments about things like that should change anything about my desire to see grace and love abound in the world." 6) A Tale of Two Tables by Heather Goodman "Well, anyway, that was one restaurant – two tables. But I have found that it is easy to smile and greet someone during worship. It’s easy to lay hands on them and pray – to even see their broken hearts and call them out and notice that they are lonely people – heck, to share ‘prophetically’ with them that they are lonely and that God wants to heal them of this – but then, when it comes time to go out to eat together, we all too often leave them sitting at their own table again." 7) The God of No Compromise and the Government Shutdown by Morgan Guyton "A cross whose purpose is to uphold God’s uncompromising intolerance for imperfection creates a God in the image of Keyser Soze or Darth Vader, because it defines God’s goodness not according to any sort of benevolence towards humanity, but as His demand for nothing less than perfect conformity to His will." 8) The First Reading by Leigh Kramer "I flattened the paper and took a deep breath. I could do this. But I didn’t recognize my voice. Thick with emotion, wobbly. I read the verses and my voice cracked thinking of a day when death will be destroyed. When there will be no more tears or family vigils in ICU rooms. No more heartbreaking decisions, no more missing loved ones. No more learning to do life alone. No more sorrow." 9) Blurring the Lines by Trudy "Actually, one of the most difficult things about living here—far worse than power outages and diarrhea—has been the way I am forced to learn about myself. It was easy back in the States to think of myself as a kind, compassionate person. I was generous. I was hospitable—so I thought. Or so maybe I am? But it certainly doesn’t feel like it now, when I’m not just faced with poverty but immersed in it. I’ve learned the limits of my compassion—those rough edges of tiredness and impatience where I just no longer have anything left to give to my fellow human beings and where I so easily recede into selfishness and survival." 10)The Gospel According to Karaoke by Richard Beck "Karaoke, according to Mark, is a practice of vulnerability and community. You take a risk when you get up in front of strangers to sing a song. And yet, the quality of your singing doesn't matter. What matters is jumping in and taking a risk. Being exposed and vulnerable is what is welcomed. That's what gets you the embrace, just getting up there and participating. Being an exposed and vulnerable human being." Honorable Mention To Be Inconvenienced by Kristin Potler In the Nail-Painting, Gin-Drinking, Continuous Healing of Being Together by Elora Ramirez "Jesus (Still) Hates Religion": An Interview with YouTube Sensation Jefferson Bethke by Jonathan Merritt Tweets of the Week "What if *actual* Rhinos joined the GOP?" - Alan Noble (@TheAlanNoble) "I keep trying to sell out but no one is offering me any money. :(" - Emily Maynard (@emelina) "That part of the Bible when God is like, "I only care about the heart,
not your face." But then David walks in with his pretty eyes...whatever God, you're not fooling anyone." - Caitlin Kellogg (@cait_kellogg) On Pop Theology Week in Review Einstein: A Tale of Cats and Eschatology by JaneAnn Kenney "Now, I’m not one of those Left Behind sort of eschatology nuts, although not having read the books or watched any movies (are those movies out yet, Nic Cage?), I don’t suppose I can say for certain." On Pop Theology Podcast: Episode 43 - Wine, Sunsets, and a Plethora of Tables by Ben Howard "Every week at On Pop Theology, we read a lot of blog posts to put together our 'Best of the Week' post." The Gospel of Orange is the New Black by Rebekah Mays "I recently finished watching the first season of the new Netflix series Orange is the New Black." The Disparate Worlds of Warring Minds: The Epistemology of a Government Shutdown by Ben Howard "My first thoughts last Monday, the first day of our government shutdown, were about the show The Newsroom." Matriculation Day by Lyndsey Graves
"I’ve been repeatedly exhorted to come to chapel in order to hear my name called." Song of the Week "Fly From Heaven" by Toad the Wet Sprocket
1) Most of Them Are Mothers by Saskia Wishart "I wonder for their children. I wonder what story they will be told about
their mother. Will they one day learn that she was forced to sell her
body? Or that she decided to do it because she thought it would give
them a chance for a better life?"
2) The New Legalism: Missional, Radical, Narcissistic, and Shamed by Anthony Bradley "I continue to amazed by the number of youth and youth adults who are
stressed and burnt out from the regularly shaming and feelings of
inadequacy if they happen to not being doing something unique and
special. Today’s Millennial generation is being fed the message that if
they don’t do something extraordinary in this life they are wasting
their gifts and potential." 3) Choose Your Own Apocalypse by Lane Severson Choose Your Own Apocalyptic Adventure from Premillennial, Postmillennial, Amillennial, Zombie, Robot or African. Enjoy! 4) Did Anyone Actually Read "The Great Gatsby"? by Zachary M. Seward "Yet so many people seem enchanted enough by the decadence described in
Fitzgerald’s book to ignore its fairly obvious message of condemnation.
Gatsby parties can be found all over town. They are staples of spring on
many Ivy League campuses and a frequent theme of galas in Manhattan." 5) Why I Love the Internet and Jesus Does Too by Micah Murray "We are a generation that lives our lives online, with friends
we’ve never met who we love with all our hearts. And I’ll fight anybody
who says that’s not a beautiful thing."
