Preaching A Feminist Faith From Priscilla’s Epistle

Download the audio mp3 A great cloud of witnesses surrounds us… Let us pray: Holy One of Old, open our eyes that we may see. Amen. If your preacher preached about faith last week, she or he might have ended with, “To be continued…” The more than forty verses in Hebrews 11 and the beginning...... Read More

Subversive Service: Lee Daniels’ “The Butler”

Dear Mr. Daniels, I had the great pleasure of meeting you during one of your visits to the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in the company of your mother whose ministries in music and service have enriched my life as a congregant and as a priest. I had the tremendous pleasure of seeing your...... Read More

On Biblical Literalism

I was invited to participate in a forum on Creationism in the NY Times. You can find the whole conversation here. (Note that a subscription is required after 10 free articles a month. Here is my contribution: Biblical literalism usually emerges from a faithful impulse, deeply meaningful faith in God, Jesus and scripture in Christian...... Read More

Believe God: Listen to the Voices in Your Heart & Head

Download the audio mp3 Genesis 15:6, Abraham trusted in God… Hebrews 11:1, Faith is the essence of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen… 3 By faith we understand… Let us pray: Holy One of Old, open our eyes that we may see. Amen. I believe I can fly  I believe I can...... Read More

Hosea’s Mothering God: Back to Egypt

Listen to the recording (mp3 file) Hosea 11:3 I, I taught Ephraim to walk,  I took them up in my arms; yet they did not know that I healed them. 4 I pulled them along with humane restraint,  with ties of love. And I was to them like those who lift babies to their cheeks,...... Read More

Dont Ask Me How I Am

Don’t ask me how I am if you don’t want to know. If you can’t handle it. If you will need me to help you understand. Just don’t ask. You know how I am. How we are. I am not ok. We are not ok. I am not safe. We are not safe. I am...... Read More

Moses & His Lady (Who Is Also His Lord)

Shabbat B’ha’alotkha 25 May 2013/16 Sivan 5773 בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ  בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ “When you set up (the stuff)…” There’s a lot of stuff in this parsha. The purpose of this setting up in 8:1 is to give light, so too I hope will this drash. Let’s shine the light on some of the stuff in the text. First...... Read More

Savaging Women (and Men)

The festering scab of our rape epidemic has been ripped off (again), revealing the festering flesh underneath. Women and girls snatched off the street and held in chains for years as sex slaves; predators talking their way into the homes of struggling single mothers for access to their children; male soldiers and defense contractors raping...... Read More

Rewriting the Bible, Me & the History Channel

I am a womanist, feminist, post-colonial, transgressive, progressive biblical scholar. I am liberal about the love of God and conservative about translation issues (like lexical fidelity). And I have been accused of rewriting the bible on more than one occasion, see Rewriting the Bible: the Gospel According to Liberals where I’m in good company. That is something...... Read More

Crucifixion and Sexual Violence

On this Good Friday as on many before, I consider anew the full range of torture and humiliation to which Jesus of Nazareth was subjected, physical and sexual. The latter is so traumatizing for the Church that we have covered it up – literally – covering Jesus’ genitals on our crucifixes. But the Romans (and...... Read More