White Dominant Culture | Something Else | Good friends, Corrections are done on my book, I'm exercising five days a week, fall is finally here in New England. Most importantly, it is raining. Hopefully this Northeaster will bring a great deal of rain because we need the water. I head off to Denver to see family, but also to teach Spiritual Neighboring. It's a course on spiritual care for people without homes, in prison, people who can't get out of their homes. I'm excited to engage with...
3 days ago • 4 min read
Dignity Act | INA 245(i) | Friends, I've got corrections for my next book here on my computer, with my edits-of-the-editors-edits due on Monday. Which means I'm doing lots of writing, and editing, and grinding my teeth when I can't figure how to fix this one section just right. The book is a lenten study, and somehow I failed to write forty lenten reflections before I turned it in. How do you just fail to write the correct number? I mean I get how I could have written poorly. But just seven...
7 days ago • 3 min read
Hating Cities | Resistance Revival Chorus Friends, They are coming after our cities. But hating cities is not a new thing. But Jeremiah calls us to love where we land, including in the city. I live almost in rural land (it can't really be rural, there is a mall). I love the woods and the farms. But that doesn't mean I should accept the call to be afraid of cities. Try this one on this week! -Liz Love the City Jeremiah 29 offers instructions (from God) for life in exile. Jerusalem has been...
10 days ago • 4 min read
Can we hate, too? | Paradise in Troubled Water | I have corrections on my next book. That mostly causes panic, I've got to make changes in the next two weeks. But also, I have a book coming out in December! When Did We See You? is a Lenten Reflection on poverty and wealth from Upper Room Books. As soon as I finish the edits I can go back to being excited about it. -Liz Love Your Enemies I hate this commandment. I mean, I love that it's there. I love that Christianity is so countercultural in...
14 days ago • 3 min read
How I long for Peace | Life After Doom Friends, I went to Harvest Fest in Underhill Vermont on Saturday. The day was glorious and the booths were packed. Great art, great food, great music, and clearly a community pulling together. The world is doomed and we are out there being friendly, and enjoying beauty. At first the contrast was overbearing. But then I wondered, maybe it isn't contrast. Maybe this is how we save our nation, one lovely, welcoming neighborhood festival at a time. -Liz Be...
17 days ago • 4 min read
Black Sash in South Africa | The Asylum Seekers Friends, I spent time today at a gathering of leaders of churches that are trying to make a difference. It was a small group, a short time, and the work feels hard. But it feels so much better when we gather with others. Be sure you are taking time to see the beauty of the world, taking breaks from the news, sitting in prayer, and connecting to others. Let me know if you'd be interested in zoom gathering of resistors. -Liz Being Church: Presence...
21 days ago • 3 min read
Ending Veteran Homelessness | Book Discussion Friends, Although I was horrified to hear about the disruption of homeless encampments in Washington, DC, I also knew this is a pretty common reaction to homelessness. So I had to tell what I know. -Liz We Could End Homelessness The story of the [named] Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) isn't really about poverty. The story is about the [un-named] rich man who wants a sign from the dead. The conclusion is straightforward--we are not getting any more signs...
24 days ago • 3 min read
Wisdom and Money | Resistance in DC Friends, The weather is perfect: 70s, sunny, breezy. I'm outside on my deck enjoying the promise of fall. And the political climate is a perfect storm. Violent actions, violent words. I struggle to find my foothold. I have no words of wisdom on this, I just keep plodding along with ideas of what church could be. I hope it helps. -Liz Wild Ideas to Care for the Poor Bryan Stone's book Evangelism, written for mainline congregations, argues that the way that...
28 days ago • 3 min read
Row On, Row On! | No Kings Oct 18 Friends! The best thing about being home is getting my eating and exercise routines back into the schedule. I love travel, but the structure of exercise in the morning, four meals a day, jelly beans here and there, that feels like home to me. Oh, and Ken is here with me! Today is part two of how we can care for people who are poor. -Liz Advanced Care for Poor People Many churches are making a much bigger difference than that of small give away programs. All...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Five Loaves, Two Fish | Mary Gauthier: Mercy Now Hello Friends, I'm enjoying being back in the routines of home and work. And loving my memories of the Wild Goose Festival. I did a workshop on Wealth and Poverty--essentially telling, and hearing, what are some things that churches can do to address poverty. I'm expanding on that here with three upcoming articles. The first, today, is about the simple things to do, and ways you might expand those ministries. The second, next Monday, is harder...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read