Let us pray: In the Name of the Author, the Word and the Translator. Amen. I’m not who you think I am. You celebrate me now. But I remember when you didn’t. I know where I came from and you never let me forget it. I hear my family’s shame every time you call...... Read More

May the Faithful God grant that the woman who is coming into your house be like Rachel and Leah; the two of them built up the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah and establish a lineage in Bethlehem…A Lineage in Bethlehem… Let us pray: May God who is Majesty, Mercy, and Mystery speak...... Read More

It Was A Set Up: So Show Them Who You Are Year W Proper 28: 1 Kings 11:26–39; Psalm 89:1–8, 14; 2 Timothy 2:8–13; John 2:1–11   On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Let us pray: My prayer is Miriam’s prayer, Mother...... Read More

The struggle for survival in the ancient world was a bloody business on a good day; add throne games into the mix and the slaughter could be epic. Many of those epic battles – real and imaginary – are churned out for small and large screens and consumed with gusto. Some few women swashbuckle through...... Read More

This week’s lessons are difficult. They present the incestuous rape of Tamar by her half brother Amnon, the complicity of her cousin who set her up to be raped and, her father’s abandonment of her after the rape. The physical and sexual violence that characterized David became a signature of his dynasty and descendants. I...... Read More

Collateral Damage: A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A, Proper 19: 1 Samuel 30:1–8, 17–19; Psalm 13; Matthew 18:10–14   David smote them from twilight until the evening of the morrow. None of them escaped, except four hundred young men who mounted camels and fled. (1 Samuel 30:17) David seems quite the dashing...... Read More

What’s A Sista Got to Do? What’s a sista got to do to be respected in these androcentric man-besotted religious streets? Spontaneously reproduce without pleasure or pain (according to some traditions), never have sex (according to some), get bodily snatched up into heaven and avoid death (another tradition)? What on earth, in and under heaven...... Read More

“Preach Woman! Preach!” is the call and response of womanpreach.org, a theological educational community that trains and nurtures preachers in programs and cohorts for black women, persons of all genders, men and, all persons to authentically proclaim a justice-centered faith-full Word in partnerships with fully accredited seminaries and universities. In my sanctified imagination, I hear...... Read More

This is the part of the liturgical year where the lectionary can be confusing to those to whom it is new. Because the date of Easter moves (I have strong opinions about that and believe we should be on the orthodox calendar), we have varying numbers of weeks from Easter to Advent. Their readings are...... Read More

Sin was supposed to mean “missing the mark of God’s expectation for us.” And yes, some of those expectations can be found on lists configured as rules and laws but they are only the framework of a tapestry in which our love for God is interwoven with her love for us producing the gorgeous colors...... Read More