I grew up southern. Even more significant, I grew up Virginian. The foothills of the Blue Ridge were my playground, the red clay of the Old Dominion was my sandbox, and the countless historical sites and landmarks were my classroom. I cut my teeth on the stories of the settlers of Jamestown. I can trace … Continue reading
I had to check the calendar several times Saturday. White supremacists marching the streets. A KKK rally complete with pointy hats and rebel flags. People murdering each other over a statue. Were we in the 1960s? Wait, is that a Nazi flag? Is this the 1940s? To say my head was spinning is an understatement. … Continue reading
How can a backup quarterback break the internet during a pre-season football game? That’s simple: refuse to stand for the national anthem. That’s exactly what 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick did a few days ago. His reason? To bring attention to the fact that America has not reached its ideal because minorities are oppressed in America. … Continue reading
Black Lives Matter. I do not want to trivialize the plight of the black race in America. I will never know what it is to be black. I am not the recipient of a heritage that is the result of centuries of enslavement, degradation and having my very personhood stripped away. So when young black … Continue reading
In his classic work, The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard uses the illustration of a fighter pilot who crashed his jet into the sea as a metaphor for our culture. The reason he crashed? In flying maneuvers he became disoriented and confused the sea for the sky, and despite all his best efforts to rectify the problem, … Continue reading
We thought we were beyond this. We were supposed to be more civilized; more enlightened. Race riots were supposed to be one of history’s artifacts, tucked away in the attic of time right between steam engines and leisure suits. We thought we had buried the past. We were wrong. The events in Ferguson, MO over … Continue reading
The Pondering Preacher 