City Called Heaven

Phyllis Trible was one of the great lights of 20th century Biblical criticism. She, with many others, moved the field to pay attention to marginalized voices in text and tradition. I can think of none whose work has been more influential in this project. Dr. Trible saw, heard, and re-membered these textual women, named or not, who represent uncounted others who are authentically part of God's story in the Bible and in the communities which profess to follow this Word. She grabbed hold of these texts, and would not let go until they blessed her, and others. In the late 1990s I planned to leave my job on Wall Street for Seminary. Phyllis Trible was one of the reasons I wanted to come to Union Theological Seminary, when I discovered that she had announced her retirement before I thought I could reasonably leave my job. So I arranged to take vacation time that semester, taking a each week to travel uptown for a seminar on Genesis 1-11. Ki tov! How good! That class may have been ...

This Christmas Eve, the church holds before it the image of God born among us. The Genesis 1 creation story makes the bold claim that humankind is made in the image of God. This is the occasion of God remaking God's own self in human flesh, as one of us. This is an imaginative leap - for God, for theologians, for all of us. I have been pondering this. Not to ask "how could this be?" But to ask "was ist das?" - what is this? What does it mean? How does it matter? I have found more than a few ways to answer this for myself. One is rooted in the historicity of who this Messiah was. Not an elite. Like 90% of those in his time and place, Jesus was born and lived a subsistence life, on the margins. He was in the form of a servant/slave, so that his Lordship was not one which presses down from on high, but chooses to be with the lowly. In her womb, his mother saw that God wanted to upset the powerful and exalt the lowly. This is a God who speaks to humanity, for we...

Republished from facilitatingchange.us , a blog oriented to those who work with people who choose to abuse. But since there's a lot of abusive behavior in this world, others may find it relevant. This is a time for frank talk about the ascendency of an authoritarian and abusive political culture in the United States of America. While Donald Trump is seen as the point person for this movement, and as President-elect is poised to implement these as U.S. government policy, these ideas are not new, and are not unique to a single leader, political party, demographic group or location. This is not a time for quiet acceptance, private complaints, and trying to ignore, work around, or accommodate to harmful acts and beliefs. Nearly two thousand years ago, the Roman empire dominated Europe and the Mediterranean by military force and oppression. The early Christian movement was by necessity a resistance movement, proclaiming a different kind of rule, governed by a God of mercy, where peo...

Veterans Day meant to recognize and honor those who have served our nation, these United States, through military service. While distinct from Memorial Day, we cannot remember our living veterans without also knowing that their service came with risk. Those who served in combat, close to combat, or in support roles too often know to well the price of making the commitment to their country. We know that our nation has not always used its military well. We also know that the willingness of those who accepted that call is worthy of honor and respect no matter when and where they served. Many bring home from their service more than memories and skills and relationships with their comrades. Trauma and loss is a often a price paid be our service members on behalf of our nation. The loving and respectful attention paid to the fallen ought also to be our attitude towards the living. Since the beginning we have known - or should have known that freedom is not free, but requires sac...

Twenty-three years ago this morning, I heard the sound of a low-flying jet overhead as I awakened. Of course, I had no idea what that sound was to mean for those on board, for those at its painful destination, for the world. Or for the direction my life was to take. Working as a volunteer chaplain with the American Red Cross, St. Paul's Chapel, and the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was a great privilege that extended over the next six years. The attacks, the people, and the stories broke my heart, but they broke it open. I remember the chaos, fear, and uncertainty of that day, The terror from the sheer blue skies, not just from the morning attacks, but from the silence of grounded flights, punctuated by the intermittent scream of fighter jets patrolling unseen overhead. And I remember the faces of the people I met, family members searching for those they loved and lost, those who escaped with their lives, and those who came from every part of the United States and...

Blessed are you, Lord of heaven and earth. In mercy for our fallen world you gave of yourself, your only Son, that all those who believe in him should not perish, but have new and everlasting life. We pray for our nation, and look to you for deliverace from all evil. Let us not despair, nor be deceived that vengeance is a solution. Help us to know that the urge to hurt, to dominate, to destroy is not only evil, but only breeds further ills. In Jesus the Christ, we see and follow your example to heal and not to harm, to accept rather than inflict suffering. We pray for all who run for elected office, especially Joseph and Donald. Watch over and protect those who seek positions of leadership, and all who participate in the political process, that your will for them and for us be done. Heal our nation, and disrupt the plans of all who seek to do violence. Let us instead seek the change of heart and mind that draw us closer to one another and to you, in the name of Jesus, our hope an...