In 1863, the same year as the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, Abraham Lincoln called for the last Thursday in November to be set aside as a day for “Thanksgiving and Praise.” In part, this proclamation was birthed because of the letter writing campaign of a woman named Sara Josepha Hale. She had been advocating for a “Thanksgiving Day” for fifteen years prior to Lincoln’s proclamation. Lincoln wrote, “The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties,…

The point, process and net effect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ working in us and through us is freedom. Freedom! Freedom from self-centeredness. Freedom from avarice. Freedom from fear. Freedom from fear of death. Freedom from hate. Freedom from isolation. Freedom from meaninglessness. Freedom from condemnation even by ourselves. People ought to smell freedom on us. When we live with God and live for God we discover that every entanglement, bondage and deep pit we can manage to get ourselves into, Jesus and his gospel have already created a…

When we make God our first love, God directs that love to the horizontal dimension. To people. Any vertical expression of love for God can be judged by the quality of our horizontal expression of love. That is why Dorothy Day said, “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.” Because of Jesus’ vertical relationship to God, his horizontal relationship with humanity bears this out. This is not an enshrining of condescension but an enfleshing of Jesus’ comprehension of the human condition….

Naomi and Ruth’s undoing eventually became the circumstances for their Hallelujah. Life, love and abundance came to them but not before death, dislocation and hunger. We love our hallelujahs but not our undoings. But remember, God is present in both. And God deserves to be worshipped in both seasons. I wonder can you worship God in your undoing? Were it not for our undoings, we wouldn’t know what it means to believe in God beyond the doings, and our life with God would be small and selfish. What gets tricky…

Adversity reveals the quality and theology of our determination. That’s the center of the Book of Ruth. A woman, Naomi, loses her husband and her sons and is left with her two daughters-in-law. In an act of compassion, Naomi releases these two women, Orpah and Ruth, to go find their next chapters in life. Orpah reluctantly leaves, Ruth doesn’t, she’s determined-determined to remain family, despite adversity. Determined to continue the journey, though everything seems uncertain, even the next meal. But, Ruth says to Naomi, “Where you go, I will go;…

The book of Job has 42 chapters, but I especially love the ending. You know, the part where God asks Job questions that only God knows the answer to. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Can you number the clouds? Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, or does the eagle mount up by your command?” Poor Job, he’s speechless. Wouldn’t you be? He does finally come to a response, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can…

We weep. We lament. We grumble. For the loss of life and livelihood. For the loss of normalcy. All due to Covid. This virus, this disease, has laid us low. You already know this. Still, what I want to ask is, where would we be without Jesus in this pandemic? When Isaiah wrote his famous words, “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;” he wasn’t talking about Covid. But, that’s the thing about God, God’s abilities are timeless. God’s mercy is matchless. God is, right now, bearing…

I was adopted in November of 1964 by Earl and Charlene Wright. Both were born this month. Both are deceased now. Just this year, I located and met my birth mother! I’ve learned, I am African, Irish and German. My Irish and German ancestors have been in this country since 1730! The details of my African heritage were stolen. It’s quite something to be adopted. Moses was. Esther was. Ruth was. Jesus was in a manner of speaking. When the Psalmist says, “I have been entrusted to you ever since…

Some people pray to God to be planted on higher ground. Others pray to be spared from descending paths. Both players have their place. David looked around one day and noticed that his feet had landed on “level ground.” He’d had his share of ups and downs and twisting turn-arounds. Ego climbs and crashes. David knew feast and famine. He’d been a big winner and suffered thorough defeats. He’d been outnumbered, out-powered—been the victim and the victimizer. Now he’s at a place in his life and with God where all…