tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366491134315594942024-02-26T02:15:39.524-08:00What Callahan ThinksA space for reflection on religion, race, gender, and politics.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.comBlogger103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-65820193577418379422014-08-08T11:29:00.000-07:002014-08-08T11:29:07.216-07:00Black Jesus? Let's Boycott Something ElseClick <a href="http://time.com/3092051/black-jesus-boycott/">here</a> to read my thoughts before I viewed the premiere of Black Jesus on Adult Swim. Check back on this blog for my review of the first episode.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-44199138032007717112014-01-17T08:02:00.002-08:002014-01-17T08:04:01.928-08:00Don't Stir Things Up Too Much on King Day, Black FolksBlack people who perform or talk for a living—musicians, poets, scholars, and preachers—recognize this season between Martin Luther King's birthday and the end of February as our busiest time. Everybody wants to hear somebody black offer a stirring rendition of black life. These days, many folks want to set limits on just how stirring the black speakers are permitted to be. In a particularly egregious example , University of Pennsylvania professor and poet Herman Beavers was invited and then disinvited to give a lecture on Martin Luther King at Moorestown High School in New Jersey.
With Herman's permission I have taken a screenshot of his Facebook posts because the behavior of Moorestown High School administration needs to be exposed.
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And then today
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What I'm trying to figure out is how administrators think shielding high school students who are on the cusp of adulthood, some of whom will vote in this year's election, from historical and contemporary reality benefits anyone.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-73295000163268381312014-01-02T20:54:00.000-08:002014-01-02T20:54:03.917-08:00Back at ItSo, what had happened was....
To be honest I'm not entirely sure either what happened to the time or what I've been doing with the 2 years that have passed since I last updated my blog. My absence from my own thinking space is by no means a function of having nothing on my mind that required more characters than Twitter or even Facebook provided. It's not even that I forgot about the blog. On many occasions I read about some tragedy or experienced some insight or wondered aloud about some dilemma and thought, "I should blog about this." My bio that I use when I preach or give talks outside my regular bears (false) witness that I maintain two blogs. It's just that preaching and pastoring have been taking up the bulk of my creative energy in the past 4 years, with the grind of pastoral ministry taking a particularly huge bite out of my energy in the last 2 years. And then 15 months ago, I experienced the theft of sleep and subsequent constant exhaustion that come with the joys of being a (single) parent.
I'm still pastor and parent, but I'm back to the blog because the version of myself that I most want to be and need to be includes writing and thinking in community. I don't know where I'll find what it takes to write regularly. I don't even know what "regularly" means for me. But I'm back at it.
Happy New Year!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-91238876683604940192011-09-23T14:13:00.000-07:002011-09-23T14:23:43.590-07:00Strange Fruit: On the Execution of Troy Anthony Davis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhstUQj09aktjWQTj4H3F3nYBX16shyphenhyphenePsXNnqunUEnya-OJz9Y2l57KhZji-FeyYNBDm7Ah8LpTSA0aAEPyH-Qah8yXuSQl4QA-_gt-Y-4bj4tFPcBLrlc2zQ_0uUYaER3jqZPKCXXWQHH/s1600/a+man+was+lynched.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="136" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhstUQj09aktjWQTj4H3F3nYBX16shyphenhyphenePsXNnqunUEnya-OJz9Y2l57KhZji-FeyYNBDm7Ah8LpTSA0aAEPyH-Qah8yXuSQl4QA-_gt-Y-4bj4tFPcBLrlc2zQ_0uUYaER3jqZPKCXXWQHH/s200/a+man+was+lynched.jpg" /></a></div>Like so many others, I greeted the news on Tuesday that the Board of Pardons and Paroles for the state of Georgia had refused to grant Troy Anthony Davis clemency with shock and sadness. Wednesday morning I awoke with feelings of even deeper sadness and physical malaise. I knew that just at about the time when our congregation would be concluding our weekly prayer time and beginning our time of study, prison officials would place Troy Davis in the death chamber, strap him to a gurney, and administer a lethal cocktail of drugs that would first anesthetize him and then paralyze all his muscles, including his heart. I hoped against hope that the outcome might be different. I prayed and cried with my wonderful church family and kept vigil, sighing with relief momentarily when the clock struck 7:10 and he was still alive. Later, at home, I learned that following the refusal of a stay by the United States Supreme Court, that lethal cocktail had been administered and at 11:08 p.m. on 21 September 2011, Troy Anthony Davis was pronounced dead.<br />
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I have been an opponent of the death penalty for as long as I can remember. In 1995, while I was in seminary, I preached a sermon at Judson Memorial Church based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 7 “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” The sermon was titled "Strange Fruit" from the song about lynching that Billie Holliday made famous. In that sermon, I made the point that resonates even more powerfully for me today: our system of capital punishment is a bad tree and no good fruit can come of it. <br />
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Patricia J. Williams made the point poignantly in a review essay called "The Executioner's Automat" published on 10 July 2005 in The Nation magazine: "But it is democracy that dies when we become a nation of heartbroken vengeance-seekers. The seduction of the “string ’emup” mentality is not that it’s “frontier” Justice in some cruel, cartoon-ish way. Its appeal is precisely that it is a response of insatiable sorrow, immediate payback; it is heroically grief-stricken rather than reasoned. Moreover, the rage for retribution risks obscuring the possibility of innocence, the need for due process, the presence of mitigating circumstances and the dubiety of crooked informants. And in its most extreme forms, the bloodlust risks being used to justify thestate practice of sadism upon all those guilty bodies so needing to be beaten, so asking to be broken. We despise murderers, we hate. But there is some point at which the despising takes on a life of its own; when the death-dealing actually becomes satisfying and eventually pleasurable. " <br />
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The execution of Troy Davis involved all of the dangers that Williams suggested, from the real possibility of innocence to the lack of due process to the dubiety of informants. The state's act was bad fruit from a bad tree. All state-sponsored murder is bad fruit. Racially biased sentencing is bad fruit. A vengeful public, evinced in the gleeful cheering of Governor Rick Perry’s woeful record of death in Texas by the audience at the Republican debates, is bad fruit. A disinterested public, demonstrated in the lack of attention to two other executions this week, is bad fruit. No ultimate public good can come from such a bad tree. It is making something of us and our democracy that is grotesque and evil. The only solution for us as a nation is to cut down and uproot the tree of capital punishment.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-6070111413203823662011-09-06T04:02:00.000-07:002011-09-06T04:09:00.939-07:00The Help: In Praise of Labor Done with ExcellenceAfter a couple weeks avoiding it and another couple of weeks resigned to seeing it because I promised someone I would, I finally got to the movies today to see The Help, the blockbuster film based on the best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett. Turns out Labor Day was exactly the right day for me to see it, because it helped me to focus on what The Help really was about, that is, work done well.<br />
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I avoided the film initially because I am persuaded that these feel-good treatments of black life and racism are actually counterproductive to real discussion of race relations. Sharper minds (and <a href="http://www.abwh.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2:open-statement-the-help&catid=1:latest-news">pens</a>) than mine have eloquently articulated exactly what is wrong with the book and the film beginning with its ahistorical assumptions and its light treatment of the civil rights struggle. <br />
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For those of you who have been under a rock for the last few months, The Help focuses on a young white woman known as Skeeter (or Miss Skeeter to all the black characters) who after graduating from Ole Miss in the early 1960s is trying to make her living as a writer. Motivated in part by her grief over the unexpected loss of her own nanny, she choses to confront in subversive ways (never overtly) the racism and injustice inherent in the relationship between her junior league friends (perniciously headed by their president Hilly Holbrook) and the women who work in their homes. To prove yet again that the pen is mightier than the sword, and implicitly to suggest that it might even be mightier than the civil rights demonstrations, Skeeter interviews "the help," the community of African American women who make their living taking care of white people like herself. Please note that I said that the book and the movie are about Skeeter, not about the black women. Although Viola Davis renders the most noteworthy (Oscar worthy?) performance as Aibileen, the central black character and one of the narrators in the novel and the movie, this movie is decidedly NOT about black women or their perspective, since everything about her and her life, including the things we hear in her voice, focuses on white people. How we are told she feels about her work, especially about the children for whom she cares, is a obviously a figment of the fantasy life of white people like Stockett who hope that the black people who worked for them loved them.<br />
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This brings me to the primary point of this blog posting, that is, the under-appreciated and under-paid but powerful and life-giving professionalism of people who care for other people for a living — a fitting subject for Labor Day. This struck me particularly forcefully at the the end of the film (spoiler alert) when Aibileen loses her job taking care of the Leefolt family. The film focuses on the goodbye between Aibileen and the toddler Mae Mobley with tear-jearking melodrama that implies heartbreak for Aibileen who is losing a(nother) beloved child. What I realized, though, is that however much the child may be heartbroken at having lost the one person in the world who understands that she (and all children) has inherent human worth (too bad her parents didn't figure that out), the caring between Aibileen and the child is born of the WORK of caregiving done so well that it looks and feels like love to the object of the caring, whether it is or not. In another instance, the work of Skeeter's caregiver Constantine looked and felt so much like love that Skeeter actually imagined that her maid Constantine died of heartbreak at having to leave her to live with her own daughter. <br />
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That's the beauty of caring work that is done with excellence; it always looks so much like love that it is easy to forget that it's work, sometimes back-breaking, soul-numbing, spirit-exhausting hard work. Ironically, because of this beneficiaries of the labor end up devaluing it. Because it is so well done that it looks easy, they take it for granted and oftentimes resist remunerating it for what it's actually worth or even for what was agreed upon.<br />
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The teacher does her/his job with such grace and love that we imagine simply that she/he was born to teach and refuse to acknowledge the painstaking attention and even special study required to deliver lessons that make sense to individual children. The pastor ministers with both fire and gentleness and we acknowledge that the Lord has called and gifted her/him, but we forget that she/he has invested a lifetime of study (with degrees and student loans to prove it), along with hours of prayer and the burden of being on call as well as being called. The list goes on and you can feel free to add to it in the comments section.<br />
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By pointing out that work can look like love, I don't mean to suggest that professionalism and genuine human love and affection are necessarily mutually exclusive, only that the latter is nearly totally irrelevant to the point if the working person does her/his job well. I want to know that daycare providers will make a child feel loved whether they like that child or not. I want to know that teachers will teach every student whether their personalities jibe or not. I want to know that hospital and nursing home aides will treat vulnerable patients with kindness and compassion whether or not the patient elicits warm feelings. Finally, I want to insist that those who do this work and all work that makes our lives possible should be treated with dignity and have their professional excellence honored with decent pay and benefits. Happy Labor Day!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-76259415194245425252011-08-23T08:16:00.000-07:002011-08-23T18:36:16.393-07:00Some Thoughts about EducationIt has been a long time since I have had the mental energy to attend to this blog. This is in part because as a pastor who preaches most every Sunday, a lot of my creative energy goes into the work of reading, listening, and developing preachments for the congregation with whom the Lord has called me to serve. It is also because I have a hard time putting things out that are not fully formed and thought through. Today, however, I just have a few things that I want to get off my chest.
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<br />For the last few weeks, I have been thinking a lot about public education in the United States. Less than a month ago, I preached a sermon about brain drain, the experience of knowledge loss in students that is related to the three-month break between June and September that is a part of USA public school policy. A teacher in the congregation confessed that she tensed up when I first began talking about brain drain because she expected me to join the bandwagon of blaming teachers for every problem with students' achievement, even aspects that they do not control. That teacher has good reason to feel that way because of the ongoing discussions in the bordering state of New Jersey as well as nationally about the role of teachers unions in advancing or inhibiting essential good teaching. Last week I had the privilege of hearing a learned group of sociologists and education specialists debate the sources of and solutions for the gap between the achievement of black and brown students and their white and Asian counterparts. Finally, there's the fact that Philadelphia has, once again, parted ways with its school superintendent. After a scant three years in office but a plethora of political and administrative problems, Dr. Arlene Ackerman has taken a negotiated buyout and is leaving the helm of the School District of Philadelphia.
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<br />I have some thoughts that I want to put out.
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<br />First, we have to stop scapegoating working people, blaming them for structural, political, and economic problems over which they have little or no control. That we have come to a point in our national and local politics when our default position is to resent and penalize people who work for us, as civil servants, teachers, fire fighters, police officers, postal workers, or retirees from those positions and seek to balance budgets by cutting their pay and benefits while we continue to invest in the very corporate structures and moguls who caused the economic downturn in the first place is a scandal.
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<br />Second, while reasonable people agree that accountability is appropriate in every position, including teachers, we must acknowledge that we don't have real good ways of measuring teacher success. Criticisms of standardized testing abound and we cannot ignore the increasing numbers of alleged and proven test-cheating scandals. Diane Ravitch, a George H.W. Bush appointee and former advocate of testing makes a compelling case for the problems with using test scores punitively in <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/04/28/135142895/ravitch-standardized-testing-undermines-teaching">this</a> NPR interview. Meanwhile, Ravitch also points out that an enormous amount of money is going into the test project.
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<br />Third, Waiting for Superman's reviews notwithstanding, the jury is really out about charter schools as a solution. Although there are some very good charter schools, there are also some very bad ones, just as is the case in general for public schools.
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<br />Here's my concern: we're pouring money and false hope into a few faddish solutions that haven't been proven and in some senses have been disproven. We need our public policy people, our educational policy people, and our communities to get together and make sure we support things that have already been proved to be beneficial, e.g. early childhood education. We need to attend to the relationship between the structure of our school year and the loss of learning, especially for poor children who don't have interesting and enlightening summer experiences. And we need to insist that our representatives stop balancing budgets on the backs of public workers and the poorest people whom they serve. We also need to figure out a comprehensive from the cradle system of education and support for children and their parents. I know that this will cost money, but it's money that we cannot afford not to spend; we just have to spend it wisely.
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<br />My two cents as a citizen.
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-12987771303588219672010-11-28T21:46:00.000-08:002010-11-28T21:56:26.846-08:00I. Am. Still. Waiting.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ3wqlJQi4tO0GB5INxBZMvyWDRbeBmV_Ih554rUdMQk6v-M7MRMAy60TKnzRaxy4Wh6QvHGwpme-YuqwWr-HhGAYB3r68Evj88tDKBo7N-LDHCVi17b3rM0_SYWOeK_d6OxT42uTSVlc_/s1600/get-attachment.aspx.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 195px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ3wqlJQi4tO0GB5INxBZMvyWDRbeBmV_Ih554rUdMQk6v-M7MRMAy60TKnzRaxy4Wh6QvHGwpme-YuqwWr-HhGAYB3r68Evj88tDKBo7N-LDHCVi17b3rM0_SYWOeK_d6OxT42uTSVlc_/s320/get-attachment.aspx.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544846462748974434" /></a><br />I. Am. Still. Waiting. Here again another Advent season begun, its commencement marking not only a prelude to the celebration of Christmas but also to the anniversary of my birth. And I am still waiting.<br /><br />Here's the thing: When I first thought about the fact that I am still waiting for so many things, not least of which is the coming of Jesus Christ, I thought that I would really be posting an extended lament or at least a complaint, possibly a rant. I thought I would be more in the frame of mind to be saying "I can't believe that another year has come and gone and all these things still haven't happened." But at this moment, that's not how I feel at all. I feel like celebrating.<br /> <br />I AM STILL WAITING. I haven't given up on any of it. I am still hopeful. Still faithful. Still optimistic. Still determined. Still alert. Still watchful. My ears still perk up at the sound of approaching footsteps. My heart still skips a beat when someone or something new surprises and delights me. My eyes still tear up with joy at the very thought when we sing "O I Want to See Him." I still love love songs.<br /><br />God knows that I have had some moments between November 2009 and November 2010 when I have considered quitting. But thinking about quitting and quitting are not the same thing. Despair ultimately has not won the day. I am still waiting.<br /><br />And the longer I wait the stiller I am.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-49676922545069687262010-11-23T19:39:00.000-08:002010-11-23T19:56:40.628-08:00For FriendsI tell everybody that I am not a big fan of the holidays and yet I appreciate the opportunity that holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries give me for rethinking and reevaluating where I am, how I am, and who I am. Thanksgiving is a good time to pause and reconnect with all the blessings of my life, to express my gratitude to God and to my people for the immeasurable beauty in my life.<br /><br />One such moment occurred today, as I sat at lunch with my college roommate and dear friend Debby and her family. My joy in the visit began after her 2 year old informed me that she didn't like me within the first three minutes of our meeting. Well, it wasn't her toddler thumbs down that did it; it was her mother's observation that she only dislikes "young" women, of the age when they might turn out to be babysitters. Nina thought my arrival might just represent temporary maternal abandonment. Delightful.<br /><br />Later, Deb and her husband and I were reflecting on the fact that we have known one another for more than 20 years. Debby and I explained to everyone that Harvard in its infinite wisdom had merged our two chosen rooming groups together - of course without asking us. I said, "It's one of the best things that has ever happened to me." Misty-eyed, Debby jumped up to hug me - "Me too," she said. We've shared the blessings of friendship for more than half our lives. And I didn't even mention how dearly I love her husband Ian too, or how beautiful their five-year-old son Micah is - even wearing a San Francisco Giants hat. I didn't say that the very first time I had Thanksgiving with a family other than my own, I was in Brooklyn with her family. <br /><br />I have more friends and better friends than anyone has a right to have. For every one of them I am thankful. You know who you are.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-33466089547713719042010-04-30T08:23:00.000-07:002010-05-05T08:37:28.626-07:00Remembering Dr. Dorothy Height<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRonpIea4Z4e2XGTI7-hl8VlGBT718CKTvtcbneD2_VO_y4s2L6-LXyG2O_JlmVMZWc2tpvkyuRlOT_DgpoE8tb9LfUsREzt49fw_hW9N2AMqnF18KwLbgffZ3a-Fq-t7Uun8iBJQq9Ul/s1600/27957_426028405609_737565609_5989483_6896970_n.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRonpIea4Z4e2XGTI7-hl8VlGBT718CKTvtcbneD2_VO_y4s2L6-LXyG2O_JlmVMZWc2tpvkyuRlOT_DgpoE8tb9LfUsREzt49fw_hW9N2AMqnF18KwLbgffZ3a-Fq-t7Uun8iBJQq9Ul/s320/27957_426028405609_737565609_5989483_6896970_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467809420222721458" /></a><br /><br />One of the things I learned being raised by and among church-going black folks is that often when you don’t know where to start, the best thing to say is “I thank the Lord for being here.” Yes, indeed, I thank the Lord for being here is the very best way to begin my reflections on the experience of the past two days, when I was privileged to attend the celebrations of the life of Dr. Dorothy Irene Height. I thank the Lord for the unshakeable impulse to be in the number, present bodily with those who journeyed to Washington, D.C. to celebrate a woman who spent the overwhelming majority of her 98 years striving for justice, from the anti-lynching campaigns of the 1930s to the civil rights and women’s rights struggles. I thank the Lord for the resources of time and money, strength and energy, to make this pilgrimage. I thank the Lord for grace and favor embodied in friends and strangers who provided lodging, entrance, seats, and tickets.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaDPVXSoRMpY-rbUU_qM1vnUxRpIkB1LsO1uy514K1sSYB6jpCVOj5hXt8lEO7wc1jy3gwuEVvCSii2XKvDb8ZVKTnyxkSIyJuZ0dYPq85dN-4YQGQ5Vup3V3FcZa4ORX6nES4wT_1nXoP/s1600/27957_426028390609_737565609_5989481_7892984_n.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaDPVXSoRMpY-rbUU_qM1vnUxRpIkB1LsO1uy514K1sSYB6jpCVOj5hXt8lEO7wc1jy3gwuEVvCSii2XKvDb8ZVKTnyxkSIyJuZ0dYPq85dN-4YQGQ5Vup3V3FcZa4ORX6nES4wT_1nXoP/s320/27957_426028390609_737565609_5989481_7892984_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467808457370847586" /></a><br /><br />I arrived in Washington by train at about 11 a.m. on Wednesday, 28 April 2010, with the plan to meet a relatively new friend who would provide both company and transportation for the memorial events. As soon as I got into the car, she decided that our day should begin with a trip to 633 Pennsylvania Avenue, the headquarters for the National Council of Negro Women, the site where Dr. Height had given so much of her labor. Although the building was closed, we arrived just at the time when Dr. Height's remains were to be transported from NCNW, where she had been honored the night before. <br /><br />From the NCNW building, we journeyed to Howard University’s Burr Gymnasium where the members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. conducted the Omega Omega service, the final rite of passage to which every Delta is entitled, for Dr. Height. Dr. Height had served our sorority as the 10th National President from 1947-1956, and had in that period shepherded the organization into greater public service and institutional stability. Dorothy Height was herself an institution in Delta, dearly beloved and sought after, the very sight of her at a national convention or regional conference an important event. <br /><br />Her service began promptly at 2 o’clock, under the leadership of the 24th National President, Dr. Cynthia Butler-McIntyre, with the eulogy being offered by the 16th National President, Dr. Thelma Daley. Other Past National Presidents offered reflections. Bishop Vashti Murphy MacKenzie, Delta’s National Chaplain, led the prayers. <br /><br />There were many highlights of the service and many memorable moments. Particularly moving was the letter of tribute sent by the 11th National President, Dorothy Penman Harrison, who had been the National Treasurer when Dr. Height was President. She told the story of the purchase of Delta’s first headquarters building, including a humorous observation about the amazement of the realtor when three black women showed up to view the property and were able to write the deposit check for $1000 on the spot. Each speaker offered her own tribute to the dignity, determination, commitment, and fortitude of Dr. Height. Several commented on her indomitable spirit and boundless energy. All agreed that it was impossible to tell her no. The 19th National President Dr. Yvonne Kennedy offered one of the many quotable statements: “All Deltas are smart. Dorothy Height was brilliant.” Interspersed in the service was the musical offering of a quartet from the Philadelphia Alumnae Chapter, three of whom I am proud to say are my line sisters. Their harmonies, like the service itself and the woman it honored, were exquisite. Especially moving and fitting was the singing of “Grateful” as the violets were placed next to a portrait of Dr. Height by former Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman. Following the singing of the Delta Prayer, the service concluded with the combination of solemnity and buoyancy as the pallbearers removed Dorothy Height’s remains and the rest of us felt the inspiration and joy of knowing the impact that her life had made on Delta and on us all.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-51887576075208479792010-01-01T19:46:00.000-08:002010-12-25T19:39:29.765-08:00The Best of 2009Early last year, I wrote on my Facebook page that I believed that "2009 is going to be really special." It was far more than special. It was extraordinary, marvelous, amazing, blessed. Last year was a simultaneously a year of fulfilled promise and growing expectation.<br /><br />St. Paul's Baptist Church<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BCACATrrVkMOyiXB2aFyRRhqeGRlQadzLAgeYDoHNbvdsOHH54mNPUExMvlRyLenibcZ67p8fVUJx8U5OT2MZFJKpjdH_z51zIwQdKwhC7qMlbBOCiI11IoVSx0cl0Jm2aF2WKx4Run3/s1600-h/St.+Paul%27s+outside.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BCACATrrVkMOyiXB2aFyRRhqeGRlQadzLAgeYDoHNbvdsOHH54mNPUExMvlRyLenibcZ67p8fVUJx8U5OT2MZFJKpjdH_z51zIwQdKwhC7qMlbBOCiI11IoVSx0cl0Jm2aF2WKx4Run3/s320/St.+Paul%27s+outside.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422011732365267090" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOlIcGf-Im5-q283fB88yUBHV6-tdl0Z8WZ7ZGUr6_Pa9uqizCUQsLPJjg7ZrFE4jJ6lUgQxVogqvDochs457MLE3I4PC8d4lsUTvwthkEUczG7-9RQCzCW9nmJsWS-x_vlgqCtyPHnDHr/s1600-h/St.+Paul%27s+outside+2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOlIcGf-Im5-q283fB88yUBHV6-tdl0Z8WZ7ZGUr6_Pa9uqizCUQsLPJjg7ZrFE4jJ6lUgQxVogqvDochs457MLE3I4PC8d4lsUTvwthkEUczG7-9RQCzCW9nmJsWS-x_vlgqCtyPHnDHr/s320/St.+Paul%27s+outside+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422012743696273970" /></a><br /><br /><br />Without a doubt, the major highlight of the year centered on my call and installation as the Fifth Pastor of the St. Paul's Baptist Church, 1000 Wallace Street, Philadelphia, PA. In reflecting on why this was a "best of" moment, I really have to start with the search process itself and the way that, because of the committee's treatment of me, many wounded places were healed, even before I received the call. To be treated with respect by a search committee, to have one's gifts and worth and dignity honored matters, whether one ultimately becomes their choice or not. By the time it was clear in April that I was one of the final two candidates, I already had much to thank God and St. Paul's for. I walked through the doors of St. Paul's for the first time on April 14th. On April 19th, I preached there for the first time and talked about God's ability to restore our faith even in the midst of our despair. Beyond our imaginations, I testified, God knows how to make believers out of us.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8-vWhJ7Dj-W89YRns-BB76AD0eJyy6thdSejt_f1oO6P8gSOphzF2ysO0Zhwgp5ydIkBWHHser_MA0CQPx6MnZNqCe734VbWnANTwZ3ktRD87IzfBckZLo_v0TFP6uzgvV_xSbnK2Acg/s1600-h/Rev.+Dr.+Leslie+Callahan,+Pastor+of+St.+Paul%27s+011.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8-vWhJ7Dj-W89YRns-BB76AD0eJyy6thdSejt_f1oO6P8gSOphzF2ysO0Zhwgp5ydIkBWHHser_MA0CQPx6MnZNqCe734VbWnANTwZ3ktRD87IzfBckZLo_v0TFP6uzgvV_xSbnK2Acg/s200/Rev.+Dr.+Leslie+Callahan,+Pastor+of+St.+Paul%27s+011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421990504018954514" /></a>On Sunday, 17 May 2009, the St. Paul's Baptist Church extended to me a call to become their pastor. After I had verbally accepted the call in a conversation with Deacon Jackson, the chair of the deacons, I called Reverend Charisse Tucker, and we went down to St. Paul's so that I could take pictures of my new church. Here's one of my favorites.<br /><br />I began my pastorate at St. Paul's on Pentecost Sunday, 31 May 2009. Friends from around the region came to share with St. Paul's and me as we began our journey together, and I had the blessed surprise of a visit from the venerable and legendary Rev. Dr. Henry Mitchell who offered the pastoral prayer. Thanks to the wonderful public relations work of Leslie Patterson -Tyler, we had extensive media coverage, including an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. I preached a sermon titled "It's Time" about the fulfillment of God's promise in the birth and empowerment of the church. Following the church-sponsored reception after service, my friends and I went to Maggiano's for some serious eating. Below are pictures of me in the sanctuary, the congregation at worship, and my friends after Maggiano's. What a glorious day!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtU8MwJ7uuRM6-E_sBU8RYY2wetRgTI8Wj1lW66SgUtoKtTsuS4YV3cRB-AQ24tMGdlv9kwrzx05PPgTIa10E_AS8XweH6RG1h-uu284v-P1eV2K2Z9vylmNNrjYk6I0V5NkI0mf0738rX/s1600/DSC_1233.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtU8MwJ7uuRM6-E_sBU8RYY2wetRgTI8Wj1lW66SgUtoKtTsuS4YV3cRB-AQ24tMGdlv9kwrzx05PPgTIa10E_AS8XweH6RG1h-uu284v-P1eV2K2Z9vylmNNrjYk6I0V5NkI0mf0738rX/s200/DSC_1233.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554827705593620482" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7pXMzxgo17oTarkBVF_Q5lBpiMCp64lvhTqpRhiOfYjbUAFdMMOgkzlZL9XpBpLNBRXXruI2Lgxr5ntVwvLCZee3o_-w22fhB6INsF2NWr2VLNTEuxjTu30IvFLvw4iEzUYh2hhL2DxC/s1600/DSC_1257.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7pXMzxgo17oTarkBVF_Q5lBpiMCp64lvhTqpRhiOfYjbUAFdMMOgkzlZL9XpBpLNBRXXruI2Lgxr5ntVwvLCZee3o_-w22fhB6INsF2NWr2VLNTEuxjTu30IvFLvw4iEzUYh2hhL2DxC/s200/DSC_1257.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554827115475325682" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6f9S11eOThJqOuElr2qXtM3u5MC0Yw6kI8zLPhODuwJy89USQDrNyySifgQffLQeoDfcC1K9Z5fCO-ThXnmelTsW_upInK7gZid_iuC_m8Bd4PsrINCoJnCGg-9-_krMeDOiUuRsw8sJ/s1600/A+Great+Day%2521+006.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6f9S11eOThJqOuElr2qXtM3u5MC0Yw6kI8zLPhODuwJy89USQDrNyySifgQffLQeoDfcC1K9Z5fCO-ThXnmelTsW_upInK7gZid_iuC_m8Bd4PsrINCoJnCGg-9-_krMeDOiUuRsw8sJ/s200/A+Great+Day%2521+006.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554826410421474370" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Just when I thought that the celebratory feeling would overwhelm me at St. Paul's, then the funeral season began. I was privileged to preside at several funerals during my first two months at St. Paul's, which allowed me to get a feel for the congregation. It also allowed the congregation to get a real feel for me. I am particularly mindful of the funeral for Mrs. Clara Gilliam Lightfoot, about whom I blogged <a href="http://callahanthinks.blogspot.com/2009/06/young-enough-to-do-something-different.html">here</a>.<br /><br />After a much busier summer than I anticipated, the time for the installation arrived. I need to admit that although I was really hearing a promise from God that the installation festivities would be heavy with the divine presence, I still had some anxiety as the day approached. We began the month of September with a series of pre-installation revival services and were blessed by the preaching of my friends Reverends Ernest Flores, Jacob Chatman, and Alyson Browne Johnson. Each brought his or her own special flavor to the moment, and the worship grew increasingly intense from week to week. <br /><br />The installation weekend began on Friday, 25 September, with a youth concert designed to benefit Philabundance, Philadelphia's largest hunger relief agency. Although there were many challenges in the planning of it, even up to the last minute, once the event began it was marvelous. We were blessed with the ministry of Minister Antonio and his group. We heard Chad Sisk. Shadia Combs presented spoken word. And our own children's choir sang beautifully. We raised $1000 and a great deal of nonperishable food items. Most of all, God's presence was thick in the room. Within 20 minutes of the service's beginning, I knew that the whole weekend would be unforgettable.<br /><br />I don't want to go through a blow-by-blow of every event. Let me just offer some observations. My friends who spoke, whether at the banquet or in the installation, gave a rounded picture of who I am. It was fun to hear about the Leslie, the Rev., the Professor. But they did even more than that because they helped me to remember aspects of my own self and story that I hadn't thought about for a long time and that I needed to remember. The support of my family, whose pride beamed like a spotlight, induced gratitude and healed old wounds. The preaching of Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock who preached the temptation at the luncheon; Reverend Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr., who preached about Phoebe on Sunday morning; and Reverend Felicia Y. Thomas who preached about higher ground at the installation service, inspired, provoked, corrected, and encouraged. And the generosity the congregation, from the cards to the offering to the Phillies playoff tickets (from the installation committee) showed me how blessed I am to have become St. Paul's pastor. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.<br /><br />I do have to say a word about the actual service of installation: AMAZING. The turnout of clergy who came to support me, including women in ministry - some of whom I didn't even know - blessed me tremendously. I was especially encouraged by the elders: St. Paul's Pastor Emeritus Rev. Dr. Arthur Lee Johnson, who offered greetings and his blessing, and the Rev. Dr. Henry Mitchell, who prayed the prayer of installation. The support of my family reinforced the sense of blessedness and favor. The joyful worship encouraged my heart and exalted the Lord. (Perhaps those of you who were there and who read this would like to elaborate more on the specifics, but amazing is about all I can say.)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjbUfHm12NLn_bM8ux5QggcGtBHE_pRSb8OhVXgQrAhWoo_lq4x0fGOhZmFN9lcZ1hFrfZGVg3NvMrOZVHtuTIDxl36uVwyfNwaOwuddGJxj3UxrmJ5e7SNn2sF_oNqLs0DhT4ZgHYcnw/s1600/Installation+Day+003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;"src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjbUfHm12NLn_bM8ux5QggcGtBHE_pRSb8OhVXgQrAhWoo_lq4x0fGOhZmFN9lcZ1hFrfZGVg3NvMrOZVHtuTIDxl36uVwyfNwaOwuddGJxj3UxrmJ5e7SNn2sF_oNqLs0DhT4ZgHYcnw/s320/Installation+Day+003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554824418201750034" /></a><br /><br />The installation really was a kickoff to the ministry. Since then, we have grown numerically. Our worship is intensifying, even though we were without a permanent minister of music for the last 3 months of the year. The work of pastoring is showing me more and more about my own strengths and weaknesses. Mostly, I am learning that this really is Jesus' show. We are going somewhere, but I am not driving. I too am a passenger, and I am enjoying the ride.<br /><br />Best Sports Experience - My Beloved Phillies<br /><br />My love for the Phillies only grew this past year. And because I was not the only one who was loving on them, it was very difficult to get tickets at Citizens Bank Park to see them play.<br />Seeing the Phillies in Pittsburgh and then in the playoffs at Citizens Bank Park (thanks to the generosity of the installation committee) was so much fun. I am only sorry that they did not beat my American League team the New York Yankees in the World Series.<br /><br />Best Meals<br /><br />During restaurant week in Philadelphia on September 18, I went to Amada a Spanish tapas restaurant. The food was magnificent. From the lavender-infused honey to the cafe con leche with dessert, this is just marvelous eating. I also want to give an honorable mention to Honey's Sit and Eat, which is near the church.<br /><br />I have to say, though, that on a consistent basis the food, fun, laughter, and fellowship at the home of Deborah and Ernie Flores during the weekly Monday night taco nights represents the best eating I do from week to week.<br /><br />Best Medical Procedure<br /><br />I know that sounds crazy, but I needed to be able to say something about finally having my wisdom teeth extracted.F<br /><br />Best Sermons/Lectures I Heard<br /><br />I have to give a major shout out to the the Hampton Ministers Conference, where the President Rev. Dr. William Curtis, along with morning preacher Rev. Dr. Claudette Copeland and conference presenter/prophet Rev. Dr. Renita J Weems brought it with prophetic power, passion, clarity, brilliance, and anointing.<br /><br />Just as I did last year, I need to note the consistent preaching of Rev. Dr. Albert F. Campbell and District Elder Brenda (Birdie) Cuthbertson. District Elder Cuthbertson brought an extraordinary word at Easter "Same Story, Different Ending." That was some preaching! <br /><br /><br />Turning Forty<br /><br />My last comment about 2009 is that I turned 40 in the midst of a record-setting snowstorm that ruined my plans to spend my 40th birthday with my new church family. Despite my disappointment, I had a marvelous day, as some dear friends braved the snow to bring my gifts and take me to dinner. See me on my 40th birthday at Maggiano's below.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvS0X1T-4wr3Xv8eqMWGaGDR9FFAEvjXM_pE9opAfElur9xGkD83ClLYH9NvR8GuX0dhC7d66hylNckEOSFOoEI3XJAKGodUq1S1C8g66L7ydhgfPgfqTIpSC7LhpAaXLHAPCsDR2Tw3u2/s1600/2009_1220Dinner0012.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvS0X1T-4wr3Xv8eqMWGaGDR9FFAEvjXM_pE9opAfElur9xGkD83ClLYH9NvR8GuX0dhC7d66hylNckEOSFOoEI3XJAKGodUq1S1C8g66L7ydhgfPgfqTIpSC7LhpAaXLHAPCsDR2Tw3u2/s320/2009_1220Dinner0012.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554825840442965890" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-2642836897860469622009-12-20T18:53:00.001-08:002009-12-20T19:10:55.790-08:00In Praise of Oral RobertsAnybody who knows anything about my theology or my politics will be a bit surprised to see me offering my own words of praise for Oral Roberts who died this past week at age 91. On the other hand, anyone who knows about my heritage and scholarship as a pentecostal will think it perfectly appropriate for me to write in celebration of one of the most remarkable and accomplished religious leaders of the previous century.<br /><br />I remember Oral Roberts's television show from my early childhood and such guests on the show as Mahalia Jackson. I remember the theme music "Something Good is Going to Happen to You" as the soundtrack to my getting dressed for church on Sundays when I was still in patent leather shoes. And yes I remember when Oral Roberts's fundraising tactics drew the scorn of the media and caused the disappointment of many others when he said that God has threatened to "call me home" if his supporters did not show up with the money.<br /><br />None of those memories, though, prompts my writing about Roberts. In 2001, I traveled to Tulsa for the first time, to attend a meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, which was being hosted at Oral Roberts University. I knew, of course, that Roberts had founded an accredited institution of higher learning and that at one time that institution even housed a medical school. My college roommate's father was a professor at ORU. And I had seen their sports teams play on ESPN. But when I actually saw the buildings (corny and reminiscent of the 1970s as they were) and actually entered the prayer tower, I gained new respect for a man who was both a visionary and a person who accomplished what he set out to do. <br /><br />Having begun his ministry as person with a gift for healing and having decided that the spiritual arts and medical science were not incompatible, Roberts did something that few religious or secular people have done - created an institution. His legacy as the founder and chancellor of ORU outdistances almost any of his critics'. I know that ORU has had its issues, particularly when Richard Roberts was at the helm, but none of that diminishes the accomplishments of Oral Roberts. He was a preacher, evangelist, pentecostal, and visionary. May he rest in peace from his labors and his works follow him.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com57tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-50452352751935520652009-12-20T11:04:00.000-08:002009-12-20T11:19:36.892-08:0039 was a mighty good yearJust as the clock struck midnight last night, in the midst of a record-breaking, historic snowstorm that threatened and eventually did cancel my plans to celebrate my birthday with my church family, I had to pause and give thanks. I need to say again that I was feeling a little disappointed that I was not going to be having my first day at 40 exactly as I wanted it. But even so, I had to admit that I had a blast at 39.<br /><br />Last year, I turned 39 with a whimper. I spent the first week of my 40th year lamenting all that I had not yet accomplished. I remembered so well when I turned 30 and rejoiced that my adulthood was really secure. I couldn't believe how quickly the decade had passed. Yes, there were accomplishments, including the completion of my Ph.D. and the securing of gainful employment, but none of the milestones of my 30s up to that time included the things I had most hoped for, a husband and children. When I turned 39, I didn't even have a church. I was feeling a little blessed but a little cursed too.<br /><br />I don't have the time or the energy for all of the details, but let me say this: Even though I still don't have a husband or a child, 39 was the year when I could no longer sustain the fiction that I am cursed. It no longer is logically sustainable. I have felt more loved, supported, and chosen in this past year than ever before in my life. The process that brought me to St. Paul's, including the respect that the search committee accorded me, blessed me more than I can say. The commitment and investment of friends who rejoiced on my first Sunday and at my installation as if it were their own new life, so many events this year have pointed to the love of God and the love of many friends. I have been celebrated and feted. I have been taken care of and comforted. Friends, old and new, have shown me how loved I am. Family have shown up and beamed with pride.<br /><br />Women over 40 tell me that I am going to love this new season I am in. I hope so. I also hope to have a family of my own. But if none of that is true, if that doesn't happen, then I have had at least one marvelous year. Thank God for 39.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-73659994526183316212009-08-17T07:06:00.000-07:002009-08-17T07:41:32.677-07:00Michael Vick<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://victordrazen.o3ms.com/nationalfootballpost.com/media_center/images/rendered/blog/wysiwyg/vick5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 273px; height: 386px;" src="http://victordrazen.o3ms.com/nationalfootballpost.com/media_center/images/rendered/blog/wysiwyg/vick5.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Anyone who knows me knows that I am an increasingly avid sports fan. I have changed my cable provider so that I can watch the Phillies almost daily. I frequently wear team gear for the Phillies and Yankees. And although I am more of a baseball fan than football these days, in the winter you can observe me in my Eagles gear. But even if I weren't following sports so closely, I would have been hard-pressed to miss all of the hullabaloo engendered by the recent signing of Michael Vick to the Philadelphia Eagles football team.<br /><br />For those of you who have been in a cave, Michael Vick, formerly a ProBowl caliber quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, just completed an 18-month sentence for charges related to a dog-fighting operation he ran out of his home in Virginia. A couple weeks ago he was reinstated to the NFL, although he remains suspended for an as yet undetermined number of games. He was available. The Eagles signed him. Animal rights activists and dog-loving fans, especially in Philadelphia, had a fit.<br /><br />This brings me to the question that prompts this blog: What do they want? Michael Vick served time for heinous cruelty and has seen his life and fortune dismantled. Is he never supposed to work again? Is he forever to be shunned from all polite company? Was he simply supposed to die in prison? Or is it okay from him to be released and to work, but just not to make a lot of money or to be truly successful and potentially celebrated as a great quarterback? I want to say to the detractors, I know you don't want him to do this, but what's the alternative? I know, I know: Throw him to the dogs.<br /><br />Now hear me, I'm not one of those sanctimonious types who judgmentally declares that we should not judge others. Clearly, Michael Vick has some restitution to make, but he can never make such restitution if we don't acknowledge that redemption and righting wrongs are possible.<br /><br />To make a larger and perhaps more important point, as individuals and as a society we have to figure out how to reintegrate people who have messed up in a way that both acknowledges their wrongs and their potential. We can neither fail to punish wrongs, nor continue to punish forever.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-88221221542956599932009-08-13T20:11:00.000-07:002009-08-13T20:24:33.693-07:00The Family Table<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pdnaz.org/webauction/tables/products/product_image/Communion%20Table.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 448px; height: 288px;" src="http://pdnaz.org/webauction/tables/products/product_image/Communion%20Table.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The Family Table<br />John 6<br /><br /> In the hustle and bustle of contemporary life, many of us hurry through everything, including our meals. We “grab” something and “wolf” it down in the midst of or while in transit to something else. More and more, this unhealthy behavior characterizes the eating habits of children as well as those of busy adults. Yet within the past several years, research has emerged that links positive outcomes socially, emotionally, and physically with the experience of regularly dining at the family table. Not only do children eat a more balanced diet, with more fruit and vegetables, but there is evidence that they are also less likely to engage in delinquent social behaviors when they sit down with their parents for bonding time at meals. The article continues, "Just the act of eating together is on some level beneficial." (Click<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/health/16well.html?_r=1&oref=slogin"> here </a>for complete NY Times Article.) <br /><br />The scenes of this entire chapter take place was by the Sea of Galilee, the site where Jesus had originally called some of his disciples and where he had attracted great crowds because of the miraculous signs that he performed on behalf of the sick. <br />The time was near the Passover feast, itself the family meal that commemorated God’s rescue of the Israelites from slavery. Spending time with his disciples, Jesus notices the crowds coming from the distance. The ever observant Jesus perceived the condition of the approaching masses and in it a teachable moment for his disciples. “Where shall we buy bread for the crowd that's on its way?” he asked his crew. <br /><br />What followed was yet another demonstration of human limitation overcome by divine providence. Philip the questioning disciple focused on their limitations. Andrew looked at the situation with a different eye. He had taken account of the boy with a lunch. "I don't know what we can do with it, but there is a boy who has a lunch," Andrew said. By the end of the story, there was enough and more than enough to feed all who took a portion until they had all that they wanted and were satisfied. <br /><br />What is striking about Jesus’ distribution of the resources is that he gave away nothing before the people sat down. Before he gave thanks, broke the bread, or distributed the fish, Jesus commanded that the great crowds come to rest. The lesson, of course, is one of obedience. The disciples cannot be used if they will not obey. In fact, they are not even disciples at all if they won’t FOLLOW. The crowds cannot be fed unless they accede to the command to sit down. We have but little distance to walk to discover that the satisfaction of the Christian life is elusive if we do not take heed to Christ’s voice. <br /> <br />But there is significance in the content of the command to be seated. In bringing order and quiet to those who would dine through his miraculous provision, Jesus instituted and presided over the family table, prefiguring the table he prepared at the Passover with his own broken body and shed blood.<br /><br />Not long ago, President Obama invited two men who were having a very public, acrimonious dispute,Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Sergeant James Crowley, over to the White House for a beer. Let’s come together on common ground the president said. Let’s sit down at the table. Let’s look at one another and have conversation. Coming from different backgrounds and experiences, encountering on another first in the contentious context of mistaken identity - now let’s come together in table fellowship. The beer? Just a little something for attitude adjustment, a drink in common to bring us to a compatible level. Now you have to know that Gates and Crowley would likely never have come together for a beer or anything else on their own. But because the President called and invited them to the White House, they responded to the specialness of the President's invitation.<br /><br />I hear the Savior say “I am the bread of life.” And while I wouldn’t mind an invitation to the White House to sit down to the table either inside the house or on the White House lawn. While I wouldn’t mind having a tomato plucked from the white house vegetable garden. While I would mind dining off the fine china from which presidents and heads of state have eaten, I recognize the greater privilege and the more nourishing meal is the one I share with my brothers and sisters every 2nd Sunday morning at St. Paul’s Baptist Church.<br /><br />I hear the Savior say, Anyone who comes to me will never be hungry. Anyone who believes in me will never be thirsty. I am the living bread who comes down from heaven. My flesh is real food. My blood is real drink.<br />Jesus knows even better than we do how different we are: ages, status, gender, nature, tastes, desires : This is my body which is for YOU (pl.) Do this and think about me. This is my blood shed for YOU for the forgiveness of sins. Do this and think about me. Just as the passover was celebrated with a family meal, so also our deliverance is celebrated with a meal. And if a beer between enemies can lead to common ground, how much more can the bread of life shared among sisters and brothers?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-29874666465626391692009-06-12T20:32:00.001-07:002009-06-12T20:32:47.891-07:00Young Enough to Do Something DifferentToday marked another first for me in my new ministry as pastor of the St. Paul's Baptist Church. Although I was the officiating minister for a funeral last Saturday, today I gave my first eulogy as pastor. Mrs. Clara Gilliam Lightfoot was born in 1912 and had been a member of St. Paul's for 70 years. She had not been able to come to church for some time, but she did have the opportunity to vote in the pastoral election a few weeks ago. The deacon who provided her with the absentee ballot remarked that although she knew that her vote was by secret ballot and therefore confidential, after seh placed her marked ballot in the envelope she volunteered, "Clara Lightfoot has done something different. I just voted for the woman." <br /><br />Of course I smiled to know that Mrs. Lightfoot would have been pleased with the pastor at her funeral, but more than that I was struck by what extraordinary liveliness she had even in her last weeks. If anyone has an excuse for holding on to the familiar and maintaining the status quo it is the person who has lived for 97 years. But I am thinking that the willingness to embrace new things, a delight in doing "something different" (especially when that something is a good and right thing) may very well be the reason why Mrs. Lightfoot lived as long as she did. <br /><br />This week I heard several moving and challenging sermons and lectures at the Hampton Ministers' Conference. I felt convicted and encouraged by the sermons of Dr. Claudette Copeland. I reflected and repented because of the word placed in Dr. Renita Weems's mouth. And I recommitted to preaching with boldness because of what Dr. William Curtis preached. But as Dr. Copeland herself made clear in her sermon on Wednesday, sometimes the prophetic is mediated through a life. In Mrs. Lightfoot's final act as a member of St. Paul's Baptist Church, God spoke to me: No matter how old we get, we're always young enough to do something different. Message taken.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-1550667035763104272009-06-01T01:56:00.000-07:002009-06-01T02:42:04.247-07:00It's Time<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcePq1k67a5-dH-4XbejeEuZreuojaewI58iMuIPcmVck1PW1GW2Pjbsn0nfwwkcS3qHGAATxTzfrehnwpH00KZMdqxc20DIZ7mt65liiY8EaSHHqZHxGyPjftP8T-Z8xyG9REaJ6dTWBm/s1600-h/10th+and+Wallace.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 97px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcePq1k67a5-dH-4XbejeEuZreuojaewI58iMuIPcmVck1PW1GW2Pjbsn0nfwwkcS3qHGAATxTzfrehnwpH00KZMdqxc20DIZ7mt65liiY8EaSHHqZHxGyPjftP8T-Z8xyG9REaJ6dTWBm/s400/10th+and+Wallace.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342291472076214034" /></a><br />Pentecost Sunday at 10th and Wallace was a special occasion because it marked my first Sunday there as pastor. Here's the basic sermon I preached.<br /><br />It’s Time<br />Acts 2:1-21<br /><br />In one of the most famous passages in all of Holy Scripture, the Preacher says, To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. Text from Ecclesiastes so much lives up to the wisdom tradition that its sentiment is borrowed, its phrases cribbed and cited in everything from wedding and funeral rites to Pete Seeger lyrics. You don’t have to be spiritually astute to observe its truth. We all know that life is seasonal.<br /><br />Generally, when all our seasons seem to flow predictably, the seasonal nature of life feels easy, commonplace. Peaks and troughs, ups and downs – after winter comes the spring, after spring comes summer, after summer comes fall, after fall comes winter, and then we do it all again.<br />But at are other times where there is breakdown, disruption, death, and destruction, then the words of the Preacher, either the biblical one or even the local ones in our pulpits seem empty.<br /><br />Easy to rejoice in the cycle of seasons when the season you’re in is fruitful. But when you’re in a drought, in a desert, in the midst of the famine – <br />When the grass is withered and the flowers have fallen<br />When the leaves are brown and the trees are bare<br />When the ground is hard and the springs are dry<br />When the harvest is past and the summer has ended and we are not saved <br />Sometimes the winter lasts longer than three months<br />In those times, to hear that life is seasonal is cold comfort indeed.<br /><br />Remember last year at the first signs of financial trouble? Analysts and pundits observed the declining market and described it as “correcting”. Don’t worry, they said, the economy has natural peaks and troughs. John McCain, the Republican nominee, could without shame declare himself basically ignorant about the economy and still hope to be elected president by reason of his expertise in the truly important matters, such as national security. But by the fall, when the downturn and potential recession threatened to devolve into an out and out depression, suddenly the cycle of economic seasons didn’t seem so natural, and John McCain the presidential candidate had to “suspend” his campaign to attend to economic matters. When blue-chip stock sells for a penny we realize that there are seasons and then there are CATASTROPHES.<br /><br /><br />In catastrophic times, when someone declares “Your season is coming” – nothing drowns out the demand of the question “But when?”<br /><br />Nothing prompts ask the question “when” as much as our acknowledgment of a promise from God. In fact, one way to know that we really believe that God has made us a promise is that we become anxious and impatient for the promise to be fulfilled. More than the question of what, where, who, or even why or how, whenever the promise of God comes to us, it the question of when that dominates<br /><br />When will I (fill in the blank)<br />When will we (fill in the blank)<br />When will the church ever (fill in the blank)<br /><br />This question of when in the minds of Jesus’ disciples forms the backdrop to this morning’s text. Having seen God do the extraordinary in Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples actually grasp that God had been making them a promise that God intended to fulfill, and so they ask, “When will the restoration be?” Jesus’ instruction to them is embodied in the command for them to stay in Jerusalem and WAIT. But I can hear them traveling back to Jerusalem and spending all their time between the ascension and Pentecost asking the question, “Is it time yet?”<br /><br />Time is by definition: A nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future. <br />In God’s timing there is a the story of previous deliverance and salvation interwoven into the promise. There’s always a past. After all, God has been working in us for so long. And even the present glory is linked to past deliverance.<br />Pentecost was an ancient feast celebrating harvest, the feast of weeks measured from the barley harvest (at Passover) to the harvest of wheat (at Pentecost) also commemorating the giving of Torah (divine law)<br /><br />After the disciples had gathered in obedience and handled the business of replacing Judas in their number, then the Spirit declared, “It’s time.” And I came to announce to St. Paul’s on this Pentecost Sunday that “It’s time!” <br /><br />I want to make clear that there are some signs that the announcement of God’s working in our time is true. For the announcement that God is at work to be the truth then there are three things that must accompany the announcement.<br /><br />First, there is divine visitation – I am so grateful that all of us have gathered this morning in the house of worship. I’m thankful for the deacons in their place, the ushers in theirs, the choir in theirs, the musicians in theirs. I’m thankful for my friends who have traveled and for this congregation who have come together in this one place and with one accord, but if GOD doesn’t show up in the building, our gathering is in vain. What we have come to do is to prepare the altar and to bring the living sacrifices of our whole selves. But we need is for God to send the fire. <br /><br />When I was growing up, we sang a chorus that declared, “O Lord I come, withholding nothing. And I have but one desire. All I have is on the altar. And I pray, Lord, send the fire.”<br /><br />People manufacture fire but it’s not God’s fire. People blow hot air but it’s not God wind. God’s wind blows where it wills and we hear its sound, but we cannot control it and we cannot even predict it. In fact, no matter how long we have been waiting for it, whenever it comes it still feels “sudden.”<br /><br />Second, there is supernatural communication. The tongues divide and the disciples are given supernatural utterance, both the ability to speak and the words to say. Then the multicultural crowds of those who hear them are able to hear in their own languages God’s marvelous deeds of power. Some people say that the miracle was a miracle of speech, in that the disciples were ecstatically enabled to communicate in a language they had not studied. Others say the miracle was in the hearing of the listeners, that the Spirit translated for them. I am clear that real communication requires both speech and hearing, both articulation and understanding. And when God’s Spirit decides that “It’s time” God fills the spaces and makes communication across cultures and other divides possible.<br /><br />This does not mean that the scene was without confusion and disbelief. God’s timing, vision, and presence activated among us will sometimes cause people to think we’ve lost our minds. But there will be others – sometimes a few, sometimes the many – who will hear for themselves and take hold of God’s promise.<br /><br />Finally, the third sign of God’s timing is Christ-centered proclamation. God pours God’s Spirit out on all flesh to enable us to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a divine vision for humanity, embodied and enfleshed in the life of Jesus Christ. We tell that story about his birth in Bethlehem, his openness to the outcast, his care for those who were left out. We tell the story of how much he loved us. We tell that he gave his life on Calvary, but that his story does not end on Golgatha nor in Joseph’s new tomb, but on that first Easter he arose with power. And his story still has not ended.<br /><br />It’s time.<br />It’s God’s time.<br />It’s our time.<br />When is the time of restoration? Now is the acceptable time. When is the day of salvation? Today, is the day of salvation. And everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.<br /><br />PENTECOST WAS A COMMENCEMENT – the first Sunday in a great new era.<br />Not only is there a past (history), a present (opportunity), in God alone it can be said that there is always a future (hope). Spirit that brooded over creation now dwelling in the disciples prompts us to ask “What plan is God hatching?” <br /><br />The reality is that there is a cry louder and more significant even than our own cries for a change of seasons. There is a community that has looked upon the buildings called churches and community centers and perceived in them a promise from God.<br /><br />Hungry ask when will be fed<br />Naked ask when will we be clothed<br />Homeless ask when will we have homes <br />Broken ask when will we be mended<br />The poor ask when will we have provisions<br />The oppressed ask when will we be freed<br />The imprisoned ask when will we be visited<br />The children ask when will we be educated<br />And our answer in the name of the Lord is “It’s time”<br /><br />Yes, St. Paul’s it’s time<br />It’s praying time<br />It’s preaching time<br />Praising time<br />Planting time <br />Healing time <br />Building time<br />Laughing time<br />Gathering time<br />Searching time<br />Keeping time<br />Mending time<br />Singing time<br />Dancing time <br />Working time<br />Serving time<br />It’s time for justice, mercy, walking humbly<br />It’s my time, it’s your time, it’s our time, and it’s the time.<br />It’s time for the wind and for the fire<br />It’s God’s time<br />It’s just time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-11741863334049022122009-05-18T20:31:00.000-07:002009-05-18T20:36:00.360-07:00How Crazy is This...?This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.<br /><br />I finally get what I've been praying for and I am almost too busy to enjoy it. What's up with this? In a word, on yesterday May 17th, I received a call to become the 5th pastor of the 119-year-old St. Paul's Baptist Church in Philadelphia. The church may be found at 1000 Wallace St., just 3 short blocks from the Spaghetti Warehouse (everyone needs landmarks). In fact, I understand that there are quite a few great restaurants in the neighborhood. <br /><br />I have to give a shout out to the Pastoral Search Committee, who conducted a fair and clean process. Even before the vote was conducted, I already found the process to be a healing one. Since having been elected? Well, let me say "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes."<br /><br />It is my plan to begin my service to the congregation on May 31st. Anyone in Philly please come and see what the Lord is doing at St. Paul's Baptist Church.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-12160357653009232032009-03-02T20:44:00.000-08:002009-03-02T21:51:43.469-08:00Inarticulate?I never got on the bandwagon of praise for the Republican National Committee's choice of Michael Steele as its new chair. In a time when the Republican party is itself increasingly out of touch, I read his choice as a cynical attempt to portray themselves as forward-thinking. It was as pathetic as the choice of Sarah Palin as VP nominee. But even though I was never a big fan of Steele, now I am through entirely with him.<br /><br />The cause of my complete dismissal of Steele has to do with an exchange between Steele and the real Republican power, Rush Limbaugh. According to an article on <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/02/steele-takes-on-rush-limb_n_171135.html">HuffingtonPost.com </a>Steele has apologized for calling Limbaugh an entertainer, after Limbaugh put Steele in his place by telling him that the RNC is not synonymous the GOP and in fact it fails to represent a significant consituency of Republicans. All of that internecine Republican bickering would bring a smile to my face, if it weren't for one particular excuse Steele used for his apology: "I was maybe a bit inarticulate."<br /><br />Everyone knew that Limbaugh was calling the Republican shots. After all, nature abhors a vacuum. And in the absence of any real leadership, what with Palin's problems and Jindal's less than stellar performance last week, Limbaugh is all that the GOP has left, that is, unless you count Steele. And apparently Limbaugh doesn't. Nevertheless, Michael Steele should really try not to sound so pathetic and whimpering. And more than that, despite being the RNC chairman, Steele should try to remember he's a BLACK MAN!<br /><br />How in the world can black people continue to be mad at white people for acting surprised when we're "articulate" if other black people go out in public claiming to to be "inarticulate" whenever they say something they wish they hadn't said? Now I'm not trying to revoke Steele's black card, because I don't want him to join the millions of unemployed people, but he needs to watch it. Goodness!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-74297366496106862832009-01-20T15:10:00.000-08:002009-01-20T18:42:17.980-08:00Mr. President<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSg-9txceauF2R3wsSl65J5uSX-Lvb3KObrXnw9qFZypx9-Xsnmyq_1wyWzMhUmzCTOo7L4sJGmlQrXOJdkZBgRjJvGruNJ9RP8Faz4Neyb4-tsqUCI1fIi1bnyxQ0LYfBRw2o3cbMZ4HM/s1600-h/Mr.+President.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSg-9txceauF2R3wsSl65J5uSX-Lvb3KObrXnw9qFZypx9-Xsnmyq_1wyWzMhUmzCTOo7L4sJGmlQrXOJdkZBgRjJvGruNJ9RP8Faz4Neyb4-tsqUCI1fIi1bnyxQ0LYfBRw2o3cbMZ4HM/s400/Mr.+President.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293571739378267122" /></a><br /><br /><br />How we rejoice to see this day!<br /><br />For my thoughts on the relationship between Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Barack Obama see "<a href="http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/991">History in Motion</a>."Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com361tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-11724760188555031512009-01-12T17:41:00.000-08:002009-01-20T18:37:21.558-08:00Can We Talk about Gaza?There is an energy percolating, nearly coming to a pleasant boil as the nation anticipates the changing of presidential administrations that will occur in 7 days. To be honest, a lot of America is experiencing nervous energy related to anxiety about our prospects, especially economically. That concern can only be exacerbated by President-elect Barack Obama's acknowledgement Thursday, in his comments promoting his proposed $800 billion stimulus package, that without intervention the current recession could last for years. Meanwhile, the news that December jobless rates topped 7% for the first time in 16 years only exacerbated the concern.<br /><br />Now you notice that I defined the simmering tension and energy in our nation as a "pleasant" boil. I did so because our anxiety is mixed with a healthy helping of hopefulness, thanks to the feel good aura of the Obama election and the beauty and winsomeness of our in-coming first family. Change is coming to Washington and his name is Obama.<br /><br />Less notable in the news, given our national and local anxieties and hopes, was the senate's passage of a resolution supporting our special ally Israel in the midst of its offensive in Gaza. And this is the issue I feel I need to say a word about today.<br /><br />Those of you who read the blog known that I visited Israel last August. Although our group of African American clergy spent a fair amount of time touring holy sites, the purpose of our visit was not just tourism. We were also there to learn more about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians from insiders on various sides of the conflict. I haven't written much about this aspect of the trip because frankly I came home with more questions than answers. There are so many sides to the story, so many stakeholders in the disputed territories. There are so many painful stories of personal and national tragedy, so many testimonies of hopes for peace dashed by encroaching violence. <br /><br />One of the most memorable stops during our tour was in Sderot, a town in southern Israel that borders on the Gaza territory. Sderot has appeared in many of the media stories concerning this month's offensive in Gaza because it is a town that is constantly threatened by Qassam rockets fired randomly from Gaza. That was also what made Sderot so memorable for our group. We saw the bomb shelters that looked like reinforced concrete bus stops all along the streets of the town. We visited the police station and saw the remnants of the rockets, each tagged with the date it dropped. We observed the ongoing construction of a new school with more extensive structural reinforcement to withstand potential rocket fire. And when we came home, we learned that a Qassam rocket had landed just 15 minutes after we left the town to head back to Jerusalem.<br /><br />I could not then nor do I pretend now to imagine what it is like to live in Sderot. I cannot imagine what public officials sworn to protect Sderot's citizens and all the others endangered by random rocket fire feel when they look into the anxious faces of their fellow Israelis. And because I do not live with their constant anxiety, I will not attempt to talk about Gaza either from the perspective of a Gazan or an Israeli. I will talk as an American.<br /><br />In an <a href="http://callahanthinks.blogspot.com/2007/11/peace-in-middle-east.html">earlier post</a>, I expressed my hopes that the US, especially the African American Christian community, would seek a position of fairness that acknowledges the humanity of the Palestinians as well as Israelis. What is disturbing to me is that both Houses of Congress, the President, and our chief diplomats seemsunwilling to take seriously the human toll the Israeli offensive is taking on Palestinian civilians. Last week, the International Red Cross described the Israeli bombing and response to casualities as outside of international humanitarian law and the rules of war. In the midst of this carnage, which includes the wildly disproportionate injury to and death of Palestinian soldiers and civilians, what has the U.S. to say? We support Israel and it's all Hamas's fault. <br /><br />Frankly, this response does damage to our credibility and potentially to our own national security. It will be impossible to play any significant role in the unfolding of a narrative of peace and the two-state solution if we are perpetually unable to differentiate between support for the continued existence and safety of Israel and lockstep approval for every decision Israel's political and military leaders make. Moreover, potential allies and friends in the Arab world will have difficulty explaining their continued friendship with the US so long as our government discounts the importance of Arab and Muslim lives by giving tacit and sometimes explicit approval to their virtual slaughter. (This is especially true if <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090112/pl_afp/mideastconflictgazaolmertusrice_newsmlmmd">Prime Minister Olmert </a>continues to suggest that the US President takes orders from him.)<br /><br />Our internal struggles and hopes are understandably on our minds. But our world is too small for those of us who value justice to remain oblivious to the violence boiling over outside our borders, especially when our leaders lack balance when they speak on our behalf. I, for one, can't wait to hear what <strong>44</strong> will have to say about this when he finally breaks silence.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-6769175593031850352009-01-09T23:31:00.001-08:002009-01-10T00:14:46.663-08:00Change Comes to WashingtonAnd, no, I don't mean the Obama family's move into a hotel so that Malia and Sacha could start school on time.<br /><br />Apparently, the House has adopted gender-neutral language in the <a href="http://www.rules.house.gov/111/LegText/111_hres_ruleschnge.pdf">Rules for the 111th Congress</a>. Although Speaker Pelosi ascended two years ago, it apparently has dawned on her colleagues that "his" and "the Speaker" are not synonymous. "Chairman" has been replaced by "Chair" throughout, demonstrating that we now recognize that some of our Representatives are actually women.<br /><br />I am working on a longer post about our response to the Israeli military action in Gaza in which I plan to be critical of some of the 111th Congress's initial actions. But on the House Rules found in H. Res. 5, I say, "Hurray!"<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2208114/">Dahlia Lithwick's article on slate.com about the nominee for Solicitor General</a> for alerting me to the change.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-26151731600654286752008-12-31T06:56:00.001-08:002009-01-05T13:15:44.281-08:00My Soul Looks Back - The Best of 2008<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMO1zkh211OUxcKQSJEK7f0GPGAOIo5DNi60jm1kj7fLSjP_IwUMrMUXM_c8pAhMbIq5vOwGZ_VMh1M7wePBLvHTUwe6g3kz4bqefbvKxv2jYvIhyphenhyphenKX-9ZRQiVkmBM-KWQO-6qNnUiIK5b/s1600-h/100_1069.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMO1zkh211OUxcKQSJEK7f0GPGAOIo5DNi60jm1kj7fLSjP_IwUMrMUXM_c8pAhMbIq5vOwGZ_VMh1M7wePBLvHTUwe6g3kz4bqefbvKxv2jYvIhyphenhyphenKX-9ZRQiVkmBM-KWQO-6qNnUiIK5b/s200/100_1069.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287896013827503586" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvAQAo0ioILgzyKLKTh2x3trbMLlxsFh1K6kPTJJK4PPOS6CRgRgle60uve3T3E0wdNg6VJj2-w1UwwoirbYCPEoFGa3xSvG4Q2nqGD9jjeR0BYG0xabd0pLRYBMikit-tQjlUY21MD-Vh/s1600-h/Lee,+Eagles,+Aunt+Helen,+FL,+Induction+166.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvAQAo0ioILgzyKLKTh2x3trbMLlxsFh1K6kPTJJK4PPOS6CRgRgle60uve3T3E0wdNg6VJj2-w1UwwoirbYCPEoFGa3xSvG4Q2nqGD9jjeR0BYG0xabd0pLRYBMikit-tQjlUY21MD-Vh/s200/Lee,+Eagles,+Aunt+Helen,+FL,+Induction+166.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287895157320222594" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJ04k8A20ZsnQSLHcdJcZ-9rIcQr19PANDQ5dRQM_JaAGWx_2dL1MtrnYjjRSblllC4YMa2wPLaFvBm8zy5iRix5ga_OrD05Z1FCizK_BdYrvhFNEE-2C-DvRP0GRb6NmpB7rFwRCRXuK/s1600-h/Lee,+Eagles,+Aunt+Helen,+FL,+Induction+128.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJ04k8A20ZsnQSLHcdJcZ-9rIcQr19PANDQ5dRQM_JaAGWx_2dL1MtrnYjjRSblllC4YMa2wPLaFvBm8zy5iRix5ga_OrD05Z1FCizK_BdYrvhFNEE-2C-DvRP0GRb6NmpB7rFwRCRXuK/s200/Lee,+Eagles,+Aunt+Helen,+FL,+Induction+128.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287894732579722882" /></a><br /><br />There are several highlights of 2008 for me that I want to acknowledge at the beginning of 2009.So, for the first year here's my BEST OF List.<br /><br /><strong>Best Preaching 2008</strong><br /><br />Anyone who knows me knows that I love good preaching, and sometimes I am even accused of contributing to that project my own self. I am pleased to say that I heard a lot of great sermons during the year, but the two most memorable were preached by <br />1. Rev. Dr. Gina Stewart's "Crowd Control", preached Wednesday morning at the Hampton Minister's Conference.<br />2. Rev. Tim Poston, "Woman Behold Thy Son," preached during a marvelous set of "Seven Last Words" on Good Friday 2008.<br /><br />I can't leave this category without offering shout outs to Pastor Brenda Cuthbertson and Rev. Albert F. Campbell who bring a word every Sunday to their Philadelphia congregations. I also want to thank Rev. Dr. Alison Gise-Johnson for a word in October that simply made me want to follow Jesus more closely.<br /><br />As for my own preaching last year, I'll let the hearers say which they found memorable or, better yet, transformative. If you have nominees, please post in the comments section. Without commenting on the content of the sermons, however, I have to speak about the honor of preaching for Martin Luther King Sunday at Marble Collegiate Church in New York in January, as well as preaching for a conference at Allen Temple Baptist in Oakland in October.<br /><br /><strong>Best Trip</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZI0daagZJ7jxjw8YbixmBG1-iK3FGcibGV_EKckxNoxN9eiwaKvFWvgp4nAvB3iD6Gofco331DfcMCS6XXkrYaHaRjbU7LCE8DxDn0xXS1fyrSYEQT99g65ye6pGxIEFA-3tkBrCLssGV/s1600-h/100_1137.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZI0daagZJ7jxjw8YbixmBG1-iK3FGcibGV_EKckxNoxN9eiwaKvFWvgp4nAvB3iD6Gofco331DfcMCS6XXkrYaHaRjbU7LCE8DxDn0xXS1fyrSYEQT99g65ye6pGxIEFA-3tkBrCLssGV/s200/100_1137.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287890419318492194" /></a><br />In August 2008, I made my first pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine. Along with some of my closest friends, I walked by the Sea of Galilee. I floated in the Dead Sea. Raphael Warnock and Tony Lee baptized me in the Jordan River. I reciprocated. Our group met with Israelis and Palestinians, worshipped at a Baptist church in Jerusalem, dipped our toes in the Mediterranean, and toured holy sites. Bethelehem, Jerusalem, Nain, and Emmaus are no longer abstract concepts. I've seen the 2008 version of them. It was marvelous to see the holy sites, but I have to say again that my old and new friends made the trip truly special. I hope we will be able to travel again together. Hear that, State Mother?<br /><br />For other reasons altogether, I have to include another August trip as an Honorable Mention in this category. Early in the month, I drove to WV for the Mount View High School Class of 1988 20th Reunion. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6imrjYQmsTsZYxemPkFApeGUhqn9uivhFcZ03ZBRcI7eN4pV207zilb6fG6aC6Ieq6DPA_7MP04n-75J4QcKzcleNuYC7MVW-LZqP_LFxTJtpRk1ry1DEHQUT4UFXYjHhouDYbTS6P71Z/s1600-h/100_1033.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6imrjYQmsTsZYxemPkFApeGUhqn9uivhFcZ03ZBRcI7eN4pV207zilb6fG6aC6Ieq6DPA_7MP04n-75J4QcKzcleNuYC7MVW-LZqP_LFxTJtpRk1ry1DEHQUT4UFXYjHhouDYbTS6P71Z/s200/100_1033.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287893569860434402" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0HsRDCnhTJmNOWovjQpiE6eESJ_Gsi8ILEvvpAlo_sBMpD3r9jnUYLFGHPBW5Xji824luLmb37dX1JXhpmxh46l86A9kqQBW-ZC22Wjjt7X9RjqEq5K4ozcoZBGK9hW9RJuBgRSWLKtwg/s1600-h/100_1055.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0HsRDCnhTJmNOWovjQpiE6eESJ_Gsi8ILEvvpAlo_sBMpD3r9jnUYLFGHPBW5Xji824luLmb37dX1JXhpmxh46l86A9kqQBW-ZC22Wjjt7X9RjqEq5K4ozcoZBGK9hW9RJuBgRSWLKtwg/s200/100_1055.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287894137966647778" /></a><br /><br />I wasn't sure exactly why I was going; I just felt like I need to do so. I had a great time and reconnected with old friends. Sometimes it's just good to go.<br /><br /><strong>Best Sports</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmPRPzoVxvvrC7jQFNVfQFf-rJvtnfx3hbXq4RvMIN9bS5hGPUcw42Jbywl5CvvwMG1b02gbACw4SXPAMS6tx_7mGPQi4NfTbTMeYYAWCQ_v8mb6YPc83OsA4yxEVulV9Kjc3NgU-I0KPe/s1600-h/100_1023.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmPRPzoVxvvrC7jQFNVfQFf-rJvtnfx3hbXq4RvMIN9bS5hGPUcw42Jbywl5CvvwMG1b02gbACw4SXPAMS6tx_7mGPQi4NfTbTMeYYAWCQ_v8mb6YPc83OsA4yxEVulV9Kjc3NgU-I0KPe/s200/100_1023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287889376727376594" /></a>For me, 2008 was basically a baseball year. On June 19th, I joined a crowd of Yankees fans in the soon-to-be-demolished Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees beat the Padres 1-0. Although there were no obvious offensive or defensive highlights, the low, close score provided an opportunity for me to see Chamberlain start and Mariano Rivera close the game. The weather was perfect. The company sublime. And I had my moment in Yankee Stadium.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdFuxj9YRQtGWg6UCS1WVB27MnYh1eUcDb3BvynaWLU6cS4uKE-GzGpCRR5I9gx8EGiMaSk0UO9_34XO9VWKtMg7SH9rQlT0p7aZI8-0duRDtptRdOFauFlfhQXpLj19NXM2iZHWWN8OD/s1600-h/phillies.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 95px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdFuxj9YRQtGWg6UCS1WVB27MnYh1eUcDb3BvynaWLU6cS4uKE-GzGpCRR5I9gx8EGiMaSk0UO9_34XO9VWKtMg7SH9rQlT0p7aZI8-0duRDtptRdOFauFlfhQXpLj19NXM2iZHWWN8OD/s200/phillies.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287879829562582466" /></a><br />But of course the big baseball news for me this year was the Phillies who won the World Series. I became an earnest Phillies fan in the 2007 season when I literally lost sleep worrying about them in August. This year, I just pulled for them, yelled for them, and celebrated their rise to the top of the heap. For me the best moment in the whole baseball year was when our pitcher Joe Blanton hit a homerun in in game 4, the second home game. In fact, the pitchers made the postseason in so many ways. I love it that Jamie Moyer is still pitching well into his 40s. His diving throw to first base showed his athleticism and his heart. Brett Myers' extended at bat flustered ace CC Sabathia in the Division series. Cole Hamels pitched like a champ and got MVP awards to prove it. And Brad Lidge was ... well PERFECT in save opportunities. I love the Phillies!<br /><br />Now the Eagles, on the other hand, gave me little to cheer about until their last game in 2008, when they pounded the Dallas Cowboys 44-6. We're in the playoffs. Who woulda thunk it?<br /><br />Honorable mention to Tiger Woods who won the US Open on a broken leg.<br /><br /><strong>The Election</strong><br /><br />Those of you who followed my comments on this blog and others know that the presidential election of 2008 dominated my thinking for months, beginning in 2007. Everyone knows that this election was filled with firsts and lasts. It was high drama that ended with the landslide election of Barack Hussein Obama as the nation's 44th President.<br /><br />I have to offer my thanks to the bloggers who gave my mind an outlet in the midst of all of the nonsense in the mainstream media. Special thanks to the Best Blog, Renita Weems's <a href="http://www.somethingwithin.com/blog/">Something Within</a>, without which I would have gone insane during the election cycle. Dr. Weems is always on point. I am also thankful to AverageBro, What About our Daughters, Jack and Jill Politics, and the Huffington Post.<br /><br /><strong>Summary</strong><br /><br />A lot of great things happened for me in 2008, but I am especially thrilled to have become a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. I have a new job at New York Theological Seminary. I have made new friends. I have re-connected with long-time friends. It's a great life. Bring on 2009.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-20344805263199531742008-12-28T17:45:00.000-08:002008-12-28T18:02:07.990-08:00Christmas ProgramsThank God for Christmas programs, those yearly celebrations of creativity and public performance. No, I didn't say Christmas "pageants," which I think of as featuring only The Story of Christmas, Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the innkeeper, the angels, the Magi and the Shepherds. I like that too, but more than that I revel in the unique offerings of everyone from the cradle class to the adults, who memorize, sing, read, and dazzle, if not necessarily with their brilliance, then most certainly with their zeal and good will.<br /><br />I don't know how I forget it from year to year, only to be reminded again that I love to see the tiny ones stare petrified into the faces of the expectant crowd. I love it when they get their "recitation" out and perhaps even more when they remain speechless and we applaud anyway. We're just glad to see them. Like Almighty God's declaration at Jesus' baptism, we proclaim them beloved and say that we are pleased with our children before they do a single remarkable or miraculous thing.<br /><br />I love the Christmas skits, the dramatic renderings of The Original Story and the not-so-subtle reminders of the meaning of for our contemporary times. I love the poems and the plays, the readings famous and not so much. i love the apples and the oranges, the Christmas candy and the red-and-white striped candy canes.<br /><br />I love Christmas carols and sing them with exuberance, always bobbing my head and tempted to clap my hands even during the slow songs. I love them even when they're hard to sing and difficult for the musicians to play because we sing them so infrequently. And then there are the crowd favorites, "O Come all Ye Faithful", "Joy to the World," and "Silent Night." We're all moved both to dance and to cry.<br /><br />Every year I struggle with the temptation to boycott Christmas and all its kitschy commercialism. But if I did, I'd miss the beauty of the Christmas Eve candlelight service and the church school-sponsored Christmas program. That would be in inestimable loss. Thanks, God and PFAC, for the reminder.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-63913721144995415252008-12-20T21:48:00.001-08:002008-12-23T18:30:44.858-08:00Happy 39th Birthday to Me!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMfGxqeOtEhU9nq31Hub06anOpuuUNrYlFinJ7qfc18k9SRHJo1-gzl8RuTq7TRg1cg0ARqkTaBiWwLKQUSMZVcw9On4oObHBx2ziAYCH4uHARcPFHgLcZ1o1K6RWy1HffNTgOLpNaQ6P/s1600-h/DSC03026%5B1%5D.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMfGxqeOtEhU9nq31Hub06anOpuuUNrYlFinJ7qfc18k9SRHJo1-gzl8RuTq7TRg1cg0ARqkTaBiWwLKQUSMZVcw9On4oObHBx2ziAYCH4uHARcPFHgLcZ1o1K6RWy1HffNTgOLpNaQ6P/s200/DSC03026%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283170918602362338" /></a><br />I have to take this moment to admit that the day began on a bit of a shaky note, as I pondered where the time had gone and made a list of all I want for my life but do not yet have. But as I lay my head down on my pillow tonight, I do so with a profound awareness of how blessed I am. Blessed to be alive. Blessed to love. Blessed to be loved. All in all, 39 is a good age so far.<br /><br />Pictures from my party will follow.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1436649113431559494.post-79686041836660813442008-12-18T15:52:00.000-08:002008-12-19T20:10:42.933-08:00About that InvocationThe blogosphere and the mainstream media (MSM) are ablaze with discussions about the specifics regarding President-elect Obama's inauguration. To be sure, Black people have been talking about it and making plans to attend at least since 11 p.m. EST on November 4th. Churches are chartering buses, individuals are buying airline tickets and begging their Congressional representatives for tickets to the staging area. Some witty soul has even created an email to poke fun at all of the busriders who likely will find themselves much closer to Delaware than to DC what with all of the traffic heading to Chocolate City.<br /><br />All of the above is old news. The hot topic today involves the disclosure that Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church (Southern Baptist, in case you didn't know) will deliver the invocation. Print, internet, and television media are all descibing the choice of Warren as testimony to his ascension to the rank of presidential pastor that Billy Graham has recently vacated after a half-century. A lot of people are steamed, especially among the California gay rights advocates who are particularly miffed at Obama for honoring a man who used considerable influence to sway voters to back Proposition 8 which banned gay marriage in CA. Obama, for his part, reminds detractors that reaching across divides is part and parcel of his philosophy, not to mention a good explanation for why he was even elected. In addition, Warren reached out to Obama two years ago, inviting him to a forum on AIDS at Saddleback, an invitation that drew heat from conservatives because of Obama's positions on abortion and gay rights.<br /><br />Let me say that I basically understand Obama's reasoning, but Warren remains a poor choice from my perspective, largely because his participation does mark an anointing of a new national pastor and this time I'd like to see someone other than a middle-aged conservative white man in the role. How about a woman to do either the invocation or the benediction? How about a progressive evangelical? How about someone from the religious left? How about somebody Black? How about.... And even if it had to be an evangelical white man, how about Tony Campolo, Brian McLaren, or Jim Wallis?<br /><br />Some, notably Frank Schaeffer on the Huffington Post, have suggested that this is all about Obama's greasing the road for progressive policies by making nice with evangelical right-wingers at the beginning of the presidency. The problem with this logic is that right-wingers are far more likely to cut Warren's throat for doing the inauguration than they are to call a truce with Obama for having invited him. In the meantime, Obama allies himself with an anti-evolution, brazenly anti-choice, virulently anti-gay, and unconscionably anti-equality-for-women religious conservative. This is not the change that those of us who voted for Obama can believe in.<br /><br />Now I have to say that Aretha Franklin, Elizabeth Alexander (poet), and Joseph Lowery doing the benediction are more along the lines I had in mind. But they are not getting a lot of play in the media because everyone knows that the person who speaks first (i.e., the invocation) sets the tone.<br /><br />I'll be praying for Pres. Obama's administration.<br /><br />P.S. Check out <a href="http://www.somethingwithin.com/blog/?p=235">Renita Weem's blog entry </a>about the subject for the best thing I've seen yet.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01536725208675195257noreply@blogger.com12