George of Sylvania

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  • This is ameriKKKa

    This is ameriKKKa

    A few days ago a friend of mine posted an image on social media from the Department of Homeland Security that I thought had to have been photoshopped. Forgetting the people who are leading this country right now, I thought to myself, there is no way this could be real. To my horror and surprise it was real, and it is not fantastic. The image is of a presumably white protestant church with the words, “One Homeland, Under God” with a social media caption reading:

    But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

    – 2 Peter 3:18

    May our nation continue to be guided by the light of our Savior.

    This is white christian nationalism in action.

    This is the type of radical and blasphemous theology that leads to the horrific murders of our siblings.

    Yesterday Mansour Kaziah, Nader Awad, and Amin Abdullah were murdered in a house of worship. Abdullah was acting as the security that made it possible for this tragedy to not have been worse. As of the time of writing, only one of the murderers has been identified, both were teenagers. Hate speech was written on their guns. Allegedly there is a suicide note that contains white supremacist ideology.

    Last week in my post Ignorance Personified, I wrote about the kkk in America, and the fact that the leaders currently in power are still chasing those ideologies. For over a decade (and longer) the vilification of Islam, and the rampant Islamophobia that has been pushed by american leadership has been shameful.

    While walking up to a podium at a press conference, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria was confronted by an incredible woman who yelled, “This is a fucking direct result of your leadership! Your leadership! Our Muslim brothers and sisters have been talking to you for how long? You had to fucking listen to them, Todd, just like you did with ICE… Zionist propaganda. And you’ll keep doing it as long as it lines your fcking pockets, won’t it? Show something! Worse approval rating than a fascist dictator with shit in his pants.” She went on to say a few more things and you can watch the video here.

    Christian national theology is killing our siblings.

    I know I have been beating the drum of ripping out white supremacy wherever it takes root, and believe me I am tired of having to say it. But until all of us are free from this poisoned fruit, none of us will be free from it.

    You can support the community and families of those affected by the nonsensical violence by donating here.

    Grace and peace my friends.

  • Ignorance Personified

    Ignorance Personified

    In 1966, my father was walking with my grandfather from their car to one of the libraries in Dayton Ohio. While they were in route, my dad looked over and saw a group of people he didn’t recognize. So he asked my grandfather, “dad, why are those guys walkin’ around in nothin’ but their bed sheets?” The way my dad tells it, my grandfather shook his head and responded with, “Mike, that right there, is ignorance personified.” As the story goes, the white supremacists were showing up in hopes to intimidate the Dayton School Board to cave to their wishes. I was in early high school or late junior high when my dad told me about this, and it something I will never forget.

    How my grandfather described the ku klux klan in those two words has latched on to my soul, and has shaped my implicit bias when it comes to white supremacy. Anyone who thinks they are better than someone else, that has to “other” a fellow human based on the color of their skin is ignorant. However this description doesn’t pertain to just white supremacy, but it is a great encapsulation of the concept of bullies as a whole.

    It is not hyperbolic to say that we are living in a time where white supremacy is being enforced in ways two generations have not seen, but if we had only listened to black women and had taken them seriously it could all have been avoided.

    Like most decent people, I have been feeling a mix of speechlessness, disgust, and dismay with how this current administration has carried itself for the past year and a half (as well as the first four years of it). Not because I am shocked by anything they have done, for over a decade those of us who have been paying attention and doing the work have been told we are overreacting. So while sitting with this puddle of emotions I started a new book that is uncomfortably relevant. Last year my wife read, A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them, penned by Timothy Egan, she told me I needed to pick it up, and I finally did. It is about the rise of the KKK in the early 20th century focused on Indiana, and it touches on how it shaped membership, American policy, and the murder of a young woman. Yesterday I was reading when I stumbled upon this little section:

    To the major victories of outlawing alcohol, disenfranchising black voters, and closing the door on most new immigrants ,the klan now hoped to set up a parallel government in the capital just as it had done in Indiana. The other goal was to prohibit the teaching of evolution.

    The klan backed a law in Tennessee that made it a crime for a public school teacher to explain any theory that denies the story of divine creation of man as taught in the Bible. The fear was that if evolution were accepted it would imply that all people have a common origin.

    For the klan that meant that there was no fundamental difference from themselves and the race they pretend to despise.

    I added the underlining in the quote above, but today people are still pushing klan ideology. None of this should be surprising, considering the moral majority and religious right were born out of the racist gripe of not wanting to integrate schools. Vouchers, and school of choice became the voice of this version of christanity before Roe v. Wade would be a glimmer in their eye. For myself, this is part of what makes the voter suppression and rights stripped over the past few weeks so hard to stomach.

    In 2021 Georgia passed SB 202, which changed early voting, and prohibited anyone other than poll workers from handing out water, which is what many of us call voter suppression. As mentioned previously, the past week we have seen what remained of the Voter Rights Act of 1965 stripped away. In that time, the states that originally voted against this act, have responded quickly with suppressing black voices by gerrymandering new maps. All decent people watching this happen in real time are reminded how deep white supremacy runs, and how much it ruins. What our current Supreme Court has done to this country is not only disgusting, but continues to prove white supremacy is alive and well in the halls of “justice.”

    However, upholding white supremacy in these halls is nothing new, so why are we surprised when they come after the rights of people of color. The truth is, what is happening now is breaking norms we naively thought would not be undone. Did we worry about it? Absolutely. Did white people take seriously the concerns of people of color when it came to what was on the line for the past decade? Absolutely not. For over a year we have been living with the domestic terrorism that the federal government has sanctioned when it comes to the disappearance of citizens and migrantes. It reminded me of another passage from Egan’s book:

    The klan would be a major force at the national conventions, no one onboard… doubted that the future of the country belonged to an organization of shrouded men clinging to the past.

    The fight over the last decade from the “America First” crowd has led us to this moment where the lives of our neighbors have been disrupted and destroyed by men in masks who are being led by others clinging to the past. Egan wrote in his book about the state elections that occured in just barely 100 years ago in Indiana that resulted in, “hundreds of small ways these [klan] loyalists could make life worse for those who were not white Protestants.” For years we have been seeing people say the quiet part out loud, and in reading that line I was disgusted by how relevant it still is. What is happening in Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, and other southern strongholds to suppress black and people of color’s voice right now is exactly why we must not remain silent.

    The reintroduction of Jim Crow voting districts, and the stripping of rights by christian nationalists, and others, does not reflect the values of Jesus. Groups like this do not want Jesus, because to follow him means to seek out the other and care for them. To be a good neighbor does not mean to have a mirror image next door, it is to welcome the diversity that makes all of us better. It is to say no to ignorance and yes to curiosity. It also means to practice the paradox of tolerance that Karl Popper made famous. This act where your society remains intolerant of the intolerant, by stamping out hate speech or othering, and uprooting white supremacy wherever it tries to flourish.

    I know that I am not the only one who feels the weight sitting on their chest about what is happening right now in the United States, and it feels like nothing can be done. We are not alone, and we can do many good things together, we just need to be brave and curious. This is a time to make our voices heard, one way is to follow this link to 5 Calls. It will take you to their, “Protect the Right to Vote and Fair Representation” page where you can call your representatives and ask them to support fair voting rights. Get friends together and turn it into a party, you’d be surprised to find out how much easier it is to do this with a crowd of those you love and trust.

    My friends, it is up to us to carry on this work, and I am asking you to do your part in this peacemaking. Non-violence resistance has worked in the past, and it will continue to work if we remain steadfast and curious.

    Grace and peace my friends.

  • From a Certain Point of View

    From a Certain Point of View

    The title of the blog post this week comes from the incredible Obi-Wan Kenobi after he is dropping the bombshell of Darth Vader being Luke’s father in Return of the Jedi. That concept is what came to mind while reading The Bible Told Them So: How Southern Evangelicals Fought to Preserve White Supremacy by J. Russell Hawkins because of how this book approaches this time in history. I have never read anything from the intentional perspective of the oppressors in such an unpolished and disturbing way, and I mean that as a compliment.

    Similar to how Jesus and John Wayne should be required reading, The Bible Told Them So ought to be as well. To be honest, I am shocked that the author is on staff at Indiana Wesleyan University. To be candid, yes I was put on academic suspension from their while attending online from 2009-2012; however, for how evangelicals and conservatives have acted for over a decade, it would seem like this book shouldn’t see the light of day. But Dr. Hawkins delivers this ugly history in a way only a professor can. Some of it is hard to read because of the academic setting (it’s an Oxford Press book for crying out loud), but the subject.

    Chapter One, Not in Our Church, focuses on the “congregational backlash to Brown v. Board of Education. Hawkins recounts the story of Rev. Fred T. Laughton on the third anniversary of his time at First Baptist Church in Orangeburg South Carolina. A location where General Sherman had made his way to, and burned quite a bit of, leaving the church alone. However, 30 years after the war, a statue of a confederate solider was erected across the street from the church. The white women who were behind the statue invited former confederate Col. James Armstrong to speak, where he said this statue would be a reminder of all that was lost, and to hold on to those memories.

    It is no wonder in this environment 64 years later, that things did not go well for Rev. Laughon.

    Laughon’s inability to help his white parishioners harmonize their Christian faith with the idea of racial equality was related both consciously and unconsciously to the congregation’s veneration of the Lost Cause. Just as James Armstrong had hoped the monument’s dedication in 1893, the Confederate statue had helped sustain notions about white supremacy and the supposed proper racial order in southern society.

    -pg. 17

    Like most books about the birth of the evangelical movement, you find out about how baked racism is into it, after all, charter christian schools, and school choice, were started for a reason. Hint: it wasn’t because Jerry Falwell Sr. had a better sense of educational values, it was the racism.

    If you haven’t, I recommend spending some time focusing on the cover of this book, and what appear to be three generations of people protesting integration. Anyone who has been around kids from birth to growth can tell you they aren’t born racist. Like most things, bigotry is taught, caught, and sought. It is so ingrained in who some people are they will claim not to see color, but have no problem telling racist jokes.

    Last month was Black History month, and I need every white person reading this blog to buy this book and read it. Then, do the work that is making you feel uncomfortable as you finish it. After that, go read more by Black authors about the horrific things we have done to the Black community, because it is bad.

    Anyway, 10/10 highly recommend this book.

    Grace and peace friends.

  • “She’s dead, wrapped in plastic.”

    “She’s dead, wrapped in plastic.”

    Today is a good day for coffee and donuts.

    36 years ago this year, Twin Peaks, was released and the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer was all anyone could talk about. I was a late comer to the show since at the time, I was three years old, but the world of David Lynch is something I am still inspired by.

    The weird and quirky world of Twin Peaks the original series, then Twin Peaks: The Return could not be more different, yet clearly a part of the same space. I remember sitting every week with my headphones in, glued to my desktop staying up too late for work the next day to get pure Lynch and this world into my veins. It was nothing short of exciting, especially when in Part 8 of The Return aired. Black and white, nuclear bomb testing, the birth of Bob, and everything else blew my mind.

    Now, that said, there are some problematic things that happen in this series, and The Return. How Lynch exploits the violence of women, how he treats the first woman of color in the series, all of it is an issue. So if you have not seen it, just prepare yourself for that.

    When we moved to Toledo in March of 2020, I did an entire re-watch due to the pandemic, and one day my wife and I were driving around. She pointed out a restraint named Twin Peaks and I was really excited, and though it was odd to have a David Lynch TV show themed restaurant here of all places, and by a mall?

    Just imagine my bitter disappointment when I found out it is not related at all.

    In the times we live right now, inject some joy into your life. Like Special Agent Dale Cooper said, “Everyday, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it, don’t wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt in a men’s store, a cat nap in your office chair, or two hot cups of black coffee.” Today, my gift to myself is enjoying this work, and taking a break from a post about the horrors of the world, and how we must cling to hope and love. More on that later of course.

    Just watch out for the potential fish in the percolator.

    Grace and peace friends.

  • It is Never Too Late

    It is Never Too Late

    Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and thus begins the season of Lent. It is with this in mind, I’d like to share with you something I wrote last year. On January 29th of 2025, I riffed off of First They Came by Lutheran Pastor Martin Neimöller. It is probably something you are familiar with, whether your know it or not, it reads as follows:

    First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

    Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

    Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

    Pastor Neimöller’s words have been echoed in many places since he wrote it. It is one of those quotes that I thought I knew the history of, but in reality applied my own ideologies to. I was surprised to find out when I was reading up on Pastor Neimöller that he was a supporter of the early n*zi party. Not only that, but, he had remained silent on how the party operated early on because they were going after the left and leftists. He didn’t feel the need to speak up about it because he did not agree with their politics.

    This may sound or feel familiar for some of you, if not now, perhaps in the future.

    It was not until Hitler came for the Lutheran Church in Germany did Neimöller start to wake up. He had helped formed a group called the, Emergency Pastor’s Group, to help confront some of these issues. Because of the state of Germany, it was believed by the group that the protestant faith could only be compromised that someone could be in the n*zi party. The two were not compatible.

    This may sound or feel familiar for some of you, if not now, perhaps in the future.

    As we stared down the start of a second Trump administration, and the ramp up of the familiar hatred that defined his first term, I sat and Neimöller’s words. It isn’t perfect but it captured my fear of the moment, a fear that has continued to be re-enforced.

    First they came for the undocumented and other immigrants. We didn’t speak out because we thought our privilege protected us.


    Then they came for those on the margins. We didn’t speak out because we thought our privilege protected us.

    Then they came for the LGBTQIA+ community. We didn’t speak out because we thought our privilege protected us.


    Then they came for the allies. WE didn’t speak out because we thought our privilege protected us.

    The last year has seen undocumented, legal, and American citizens who are immigrants disappeared by ICE.

    The last year has seen the criminalization of our unhoused and friends via the Ending Crime and Disorder on American Streets executive order.

    The last year has seen the almost complete dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion, not to mention the roll back of civil rights era legislation has been nothing short of monstrous.

    The last year has seen false information about our trans siblings being spoken from the highest ranks of government, the attempt to throw out Obergefell v. Hodges, and many more targeted acts of legislation state and nationwide.

    My friends, it is time, like Pastor Neimöller, it is time to find your voice. With tomorrow being Ash Wednesday, and the start of Lent, I pray you meditate on this.

    If you are interested you can read more about him here.

    Grace and peace.

  • The Salt and Light in Your Own Darkness

    The Salt and Light in Your Own Darkness

    The Gospel of Matthew’s recount of the infamous sermon that Jesus gives is my favorite. While it shows up most notably in Luke as well, it is in Matthew that I find my connection. It may be because when I first started reading the Christian Bible, I started at what I thought was the beginning, the New Testament, which starts with drum roll… the Gospel of Matthew.

    I only started referring to people as “salt of the earth” consistently a few years ago. One of my co-workers says it all the time about people she adores and has stuck through osmosis. These are the people that make me want to be a better, and more consistent presence in my life. It is such a weird tension to hold right now, trying to be the salt of the earth as the world is falling apart around us, and I mean that, almost quite literally.

    I am not just talking about the genocide still happening in Gaza, Palestine, Sudan, Myanmar, the Uyghurs in China, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The political violence we have seen in America over the past 10 years continues to rise to a crescendo with ICE abducting people off the streets and disappearing them to what an Irish immigrant referred to as a modern-day concentration camp. Not to mention murders of Alex Pretti, Renee Nichole Good, Gerardo Lunas Campos, and Keith Porter.

    The fact that all of this has this has led into the newest 3.5 million documents of the Epstein files that have been released, with still millions of pages to go has been more than overwhelming. Jeffrey Epstein has had his hand in more things that have shaped the United States in the past decade than anyone outside of his circles could have imagined. And it is horrifying. Absolutely horrifying. The cache of information that has come out about what he, other celebrities, politicians, and wealthy people have done to children, if 5% is true, should be enough to make every decent person in this world cry out in terror. It has been so disturbing following this story, I almost took out the prayer in the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation that I updated which reads, “The lust which dishonors the bodies of men, women, non-binary, and children, God Forgive.”

    So, when I sit and think about all of this, a very small portion of what is happening in our world right now, to think of being the salt is a bit overwhelming. Something that has helped recently I found few weeks ago, when I was reading the Essential Writings of Brother Roger of Taizé. On page 33, I came across this quote of his,

    “… always keep in mind that you are advancing with [God] toward the light, even in the midst of your own darkness.”

    The light that we shine forth, that we are not to hide in the bushel is helping light my way in my own darkness. It is helping me remember that salt we are supposed to be isn’t table salt, it is, for me supposed to be course, course and in your face. It is the kind that is brought out by the kitchen and given table side. It is what you see sitting on top of your meal that bring a blast of flavor. It is the people who continue to do their good works in a time of despair, as if it is water off their back.

    It is seeing the weight of the world, and saying to yourself, I think I can bring some flavor to this bland story that keeps being repeated throughout history.

    It is the same example of Jesus bringing liberation, and hope to the masses of people who are being held in oppression by the state.

    It is the story we find ourselves in the midst of now.

    It is who we are called to be in this world, now more than ever.

    My friends, may you find the salt around you, and if you can’t, please remember that the salt may be you.

  • The Cooperation Package

    The Cooperation Package

    This is an Ohio specific post.

    Yesterday Ohio Republicans in the State House unveiled what is called the, Cooperation Package, a list of bills that would create wider support for ICE and dole out harsher penalties for those helping or who are immigrants, which you can read about here. Rep. Josh Williams, who reps district 44, is the lead co-sponsor of the package. 

    Even if he is not your representative, you can still call and leave a message with his office about how you feel on these bills. Here is his number, I encourage you to call, because these bills go against our baptismal covenant as we continue to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. Here is a script you can use if you have never left a voicemail:

    Hello, my name is [your name here].

    I am calling to voice my opposition to the Cooperation Package, specifically HB 26, 200, 281, and 554 introduced on February 9th. As an Ohioan I ask that you withdraw your support from these bills as they go against any sense of decency. These bills are intentionally cruel and is not what Ohio stands for.

    Thank you for your time.

     [your name, phone number, and zip code]

    His office number is 614-466-1418, and to call and leave a message, it takes about 60 seconds. If you would like to call your reps to let them know how you feel about this bill, you can do so by scrolling to the bottom of this website, putting your address in, and pressing enter.

    Below is a list of the bill numbers and summary provided by Channel 6 of Columbus:

    • House Bill 26: Mandatory Police Cooperation. It would prohibit local governments from enacting “sanctuary” policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration officials. The legislation mandates that all law enforcement agencies in Ohio comply with detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It explicitly removes the discretion local departments currently have to prioritize other public safety issues over federal civil immigration violations. The bill includes an emergency clause, meaning it would take effect immediately upon the governor’s signature, bypassing the standard 90-day waiting period. Municipalities that fail to comply could face significant reductions in state funding.
    • House Bill 200: State Felony for Presence Modeled after similar efforts in Texas. House Bill 200 would make unauthorized presence in Ohio a state crime. 
      Under the proposal, an individual found to be in the state without legal documentation would be guilty of a fifth-degree felony. This provision would grant local and state police the authority to arrest individuals solely on the basis of their immigration status, a power traditionally reserved for federal agents.
    • House Bill 281: Hospital Access Perhaps the most contentious measure in the package. House Bill 281 Would require hospitals and mental health centers to grant federal immigration agents access to their premises for enforcement operations. Healthcare providers who refuse entry to agents could face penalties, including the revocation of state grants or Medicaid funding. 
      Opponents, including the Ohio Hospital Association, have previously warned that such measures could create a public health risk by discouraging undocumented residents from seeking care during emergencies.
    • House Bill 554: Obstruction of Justice. House Bill 554, expands the definition of obstructing justice under Ohio law. 
      The bill would make it a felony to physically impede or interfere with federal immigration agents during the performance of their duties. This could include actions such as blocking doorways or intervening in an arrest, elevating what might currently be a minor offense to a serious state-level crime.

    Our neighbors are relying on us to stand up and do what is right. I urge you to take a minute your of your day and call.

    Grace and peace.

  • Percival Everette

    Percival Everette

    In 2025 I read two books by Percival Everette, Assumption and The Trees. Both of these should have made my personal best of list, but I just went with the one that stuck with me most. The Trees, for me, is up there with season one of True Detective, as a perfect piece of crime fiction. Here is the description from the publishers website:

    Percival Everett’s The Trees is a page-turner that opens with a series of brutal murders in the rural town of Money, Mississippi. When a pair of detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they meet expected resistance from the local sheriff, his deputy, the coroner, and a string of racist White townsfolk. The murders present a puzzle, for at each crime scene there is a second dead body: that of a man who resembles Emmett Till.

    The detectives suspect that these are killings of retribution, but soon discover that eerily similar murders are taking place all over the country. Something truly strange is afoot. As the bodies pile up, the MBI detectives seek answers from a local root doctor who has been documenting every lynching in the country for years, uncovering a history that refuses to be buried. In this bold, provocative book, Everett takes direct aim at racism and police violence, and does so in fast-paced style that ensures the reader can’t look away. The Trees is an enormously powerful novel of lasting importance from an author with his finger on America’s pulse.

    In what starts off as a typical brutal crime story, it evolves into a story that I don’t want to know the answers to. It is a rare thing for me to read or engage in something where I am okay not knowing all the answers to, but this is close to the top of the charts. Similar to how I would have been okay if season 3 of Twin Peaks never came to be, this could have ended a chapter early and I would have been just as happy.

    The way that Everette is able to move seemingly effortlessly between genres and stories shows how much of a master of the craft he is. My wife and I still talk about this book probably once every 3-5 weeks and it is striking how many details stick out.

    Walk don’t run to your local brick and mortar or library and get this book.

    Grace and peace.

  • St Thomas Aquinas and Reason

    St Thomas Aquinas and Reason

    Yesterday was the feast day for Saint Thomas Aquinas, who died in 1274. A Dominican priest, he came from a rich family and was the youngest of four boys. It was not uncommon for rich families to send their “expendable” children into religious orders at the time, and those same families gave heavily to the Roman Catholic Church. They supported monasteries where their kids lived, and it was also expected that they would rise to high points of leadership within the church.

    Thomas’s family had hoped he would also move up the ranks of the catholic church, and when he told them he was going to join the Dominicans, they were surprised. Well, surprised may be an understatement, because they kidnapped him and held him hostage in their family castle for a year. Even after that time, he still wanted to join so they let him go, and their dreams of an important child in the catholic church went with them… not. It’s a joke, get it, because today he is a saint!

    The reason why his family responded this way, was because the Dominicans were a newly formed group, barely 15 years older than Thomas was at the time. However, it was during the 13th century when Dominicans would start to be hand picked to replace judges and others, and the inquisition would be up and running. While Thomas wouldn’t be picked to find them, he started making a name for himself within the order because of how smart he was.

    What Thomas clung to during his studies, was reason, and he began to show his aptitude for reading various “heretical” works and working out how they fit within his religion. The greatest example of this, is Aquinas’ work Summa Theologiae, a large work he had started after he had a mystical vision but then died three months later leaving the work uncompleted. I have not spent a lot of time reading about the saints, after all, I’m a retired evangelical, saints weren’t our thing, they were idols. The irony of that, and the rise of the celebrity preacher is not lost on me.

    Since being received into the Episcopal church, I have made this a practice of mine, as we celebrate the saints and their lives of faith who came before us. Personally, it has been a fruitful endeavor as it has helped me feel more connected to the story of God. But what I enjoyed reading about St. Thomas Aquinas was the importance of reason to him. For those who do not know, the Anglican/Episcopal church rests on a three leg stool, one leg is scripture, one is tradition, and the final is reason.

    Using our brains to wrestle with the world in front of us is crucial, especially in the days we find ourselves. It is because of this that I personally struggle with understanding how self professing Christians can support the policies being acted out. What the Trump administration is doing is monstrous, and there is no way we can reason ourselves into supporting it while reading Jesus’ words. The federal funding for USAID being cut, to the violence enacted by the immigration and customs enforcement agency, and everything in between is cruel and monstrous. Reason forces us to confront the parts of us that seek power over one another, and give it over to God.

    There are so many things my soul cries to scream about, but instead of that, I will leave you with a poem from the hand of St. Thomas Aquinas. Found on page 127 in, Love Poems from God, by Daniel Ladinsky:


    The Mandate

    Because of my compassion, the sun wanted to be near me all night,
    and the earth deeded her fields to me,
    and all in heaven said,

    “We have voted you our governor; tell us your divine mandate.”
    And I did, and God will never revoke it:

    Nothing in existence is turned away.

    More tender is my Lord’s heart than any heart has ever been.

    So, when the divine realm asked me to govern it
    with one simple
    rule,

    I looked into His eyes and then knew
    what to say to any angel
    who might serve as
    a sentry to
    God:

    No creature should be
    turned away

    Grace and peace my friends.

  • A Country of Their Own

    A Country of Their Own

    This post was originally scheduled for next week, but considering the climate, I thought I’d move it up a bit.

    In late fall of 2025 I decided during my quiet time in the mornings to start reading Hebrews. The truth is, I don’t think I have looked at it, or thought much of it since I preached on chapter 11 back in 2013, so it seemed like a good time to read it. I had been trying to find a part of the Christian Bible to check out after burning through Amos, James, Exodus, and some other random parts.

    When I was reading Amos, it was when there seemed to be a push by Isr**l to continue in committing war crimes by murdering journalists and medical workers in Gaza. A push that has been successful as I am sure most of us, unless we are intentionally looking, are unaware of the many times they have continued to murder innocent people in Gaza during this “ceasefire.” I bring this up because I have written in my margins how sitting with the words of Amos and the actions in that land made me want to vomit.

    This has happened a few times in the past few years, reading something in the text I hold central to my religious beliefs, and looking at the world around me, local and internationally. The Ending Crime and Disorder on American Streets executive order comes to mind, where the president criminalized being unhoused while evangelicals and christian nationalists defend something Jesus would have pushed back on.

    This week I was reading Hebrews 11 and I came upon this passage:

    All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own… they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one.

    — Hebrews 11:13-16ish (NIV)

    For so long, people have come to the United States looking for a country of their own. It is how my family got here, and I guarantee how yours did too. So far this year there have been six confirmed deaths in ICE detention centers, one of which was a homicide, and as of Saturday they murdered another innocent person:

    • Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 1/24, homicide
    • Heber Sanchaz Domínguez, 1/14
    • Victor Manuel Diaz, 1/14
    • Parady La, 1/9
    • Renee Good, 1/7, homicide
    • Luis Beltran Yanez–Cruz, 1/6
    • Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, 1/5
    • Geraldo Lunas Campos, 1/3, homicide

    What ICE has been doing in our streets to our neighbors, citizens or not, is nothing short of terrorism. Using fear, intimidation, and unlawful violence against citizens as a political means is almost literally the definition of terrorism in the Oxford Dictionary. Many people have pointed out this is how white people have acted against Black Americans throughout our history is exactly correct. This is masked terrorism supported by our countries love of white supremacy, and the inability to quit it.

    What is happening is not normal in America for white people, which is why this is so jarring for most of us. I saw an Instagram reel today of friend of mine, who is a Palestinian activist rightfully lamenting the people now wanting to show up. It is a similar thing I have seen time and again when white people start to realize that the systems of violence we have upheld because they’ve been good for us start to turn on us.

    It is never too late to show up for your neighbors, and I urge you to do it now.

    It is hard work, and it takes a toll. But there are many ways we can do it, what I beg you to do, is not turn your eyes away again. Do not harden your heart once ICE is abolished, because this is only the beginning of the work needing to be done. We have the opportunity to make our corners of the world a heavenly country for all, if we choose to do this long term hard work.

    Stay safe out there friends.