When the dust of the 2020 election settled, Republicans were so stunned by Biden’s victory that more than half believed Donald Trump’s lies about a rigged election. Even while savoring victory, Democrats were stunned that 74 million people had voted for Trump, 10 million more than in 2016. The election results and the polarized responses…
Category: Social Change
The Times They Are a-Changin’
My interest in social change dates to a seminary lecture by homiletics professor David Buttrick at Vanderbilt Divinity School in 1998. I have always been a big picture thinker, and Prof. Buttrick literally drew a map that has shaped how I see that “big picture” ever since. The class was Theology of Proclamation and Worship,…
Hope in the Midst of Chaos
We are living in chaotic times. The novel coronavirus has upended life around the world and brought on the worst economic conditions in decades. The US government has not only failed to provide leadership in controlling the virus, but seems determined to make it worse. Additionally, the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud…
What If . . .
After two months of social distancing and with many more months ahead of us, we now recognize that the COVID 19 pandemic marks a fundamental change in our lives. In the face of staggering losses, many are wondering if good can come out of this devastating pandemic by capitalizing on this moment of change to…
A Chrysalis Moment
“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed. “And,…
Fearful Times
Fear seems to fill the air these days. But that fear is seldom centered on the effects of climate change that have already begun ravaging our planet. Rather it is focused on the fact that our world and familiar institutions are now being shaped by people who are different than we are. When the World…