A lot of flawed people are modeling lots of flawed behavior for us every day. We don’t have to become so indignant or angry or even violent after we feel frustrated or offended. We can choose something else.”

Even and especially in these difficult times, the Lenten journey can be an encouraging, enlightening path to hope, resilience, and new life.

We live in a world characterised as 'fragmented'. It isn't fragmented. It's diverse. If we ecologically pattern our thinking, we reframe it, and that applies to science and scientific thinking too.

The psychologist and genius Otto Rank, author of the classic work Art and Artist, said that if you want to know the soul of a nation go to its architecture first.  Notre Dame de Paris and the entire gothic revolution of the 12th century Renaissance that it encapsules (along with Chartres Cathedral 30 miles beyond Paris), tells us much about the soul of France.  And our own souls.

I've been immersed in watching animated films these days along with my toddler. Two of the movies in our daily rotation include Trolls and Sing (both 2016). Both are very well done. Both went to great lengths to offer something for parents as well as for children. And both, I believe, made efforts to avoid negative racial and cultural stereotypes. Yet, in both movies, some unfortunate mistakes fell through the cracks.

Without mentioning religion or spirituality, the movie Molly’s Game dissects the American soul by revealing an underground world of gambling and male domination. It shows how our national ideal of material and financial success, with all the trimmings of status and power, can lead to unharnessed greed, self-destruction, and actualization of hell on earth.

This post is an orientation to our virtual pilgrimage --- which I am so excited about! Together, we will journey to 12 Black Madonnas all over the globe -- from the Caribbean to Latin America to Asia to Africa and Europe. Each stop on our pilgrimage will include four invitations -- (1) to consider my own brief reflections about how cultural perceptions of race and gender impact our experience of the Divine, (2) to engage an idea/piece of art/beauty as we think about our own experiences of the Divine, (3) to reflect on several questions either individually or in community, and (4) to practice a different way of interacting with the world that will hopefully open us up to new experiences of the Divine. 

This is public theology. As precious Patrons, I’m inviting you in to my theological process. Beginning on Ash Wednesday (March 6) and concluding on Good Friday (April 19), each week I will publish a photo and brief reflection on each of Christ’s 7 Last Words on the Cross.

Watch excerpts from our interview with Yolanda Pierce, associate professor of African-American religion and literature at Princeton Theological Seminary, as she talks about the new movie "12 Years a Slave" and about Christianity and slavery in America. Her most recent book is "Hell without Fires: Slavery, Christianity, and the African-American Spiritual Narrative" (University Press of Florida, 2005).

Watching the NBC broadcast of “Jesus Christ Superstar LIVE” on Easter night was jarring. Not because it was bad. The New York Times called it “thoughtful, challenging,” and a “conceptual and artistic triumph.”[i] What was jarring was what I already knew was there: the anti-Semitism inherent in the story. A review by Jeffrey Salkin reflected on the ominous portrayal of priests Caiphas and Annas: “The Jews look like they might have been Darth Vader’s homeys. Pure evil.”[ii]  But who’s to blame for that? Certainly not the producers. And certainly not Webber or Rice. They were just working with the “source material” – and that would be our anti-Semitic gospels.

"A Wrinkle in Time" was a must-see film for me. And, a must- see flick worldly different from dashing out to see “Black Panther.” It doesn’t mean, however, Ava Duvernay’s $100 million dollar film with a multicultural cast isn’t without problems. It is which is one of the reasons the film has received mixed reviews unlike “Black Panther’s” ongoing and wildly enthusiastic critical appraise.

Shymaa, a little 4 yr old girl who laid in a comma in a GAZA hospital, during the summer of 2014. She would recover to find her entire family was murdered during an Israeli bombing. Her story sparked the 2 Unite All benefit album with 30 world famed musicians like Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, Stewart Copeland, Philip Lawrence (Bruno Mars) and the Love All Love Wins / UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) movement.

GPSA Founder Steve Robertson stated, "We've had so many amazing music and video submittals. What an honor its been to be exposed to such music and videos and then be able to share this music with our world. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we announce the 2017 GPSA WINNERS

“Men on Boats” is more than just a belly of laughs about ten men in four boats surveying an uncharted canyon. “Men on Boats” is an eye-opening and provocative comedy/drama about the polemics of white cisgender male power and privilege to conquer the wilderness girded by their unflinching God-given belief in the 19th-century doctrine of Manifest Destiny to do so. Also, these men had the power and privilege to write America’s history of exploring westward to spread “democracy" by conquering anything and anyone in their way.

Fifty years ago, this summer an urban rebellion took place. One hundred and fifty-nine riots erupted in African American cities across the country. The civil unrest took place in cities like New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Birmingham, and Boston, to name a few. The worst riots that summer were in Newark, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan. The movie “Detroit” attempts to capture the eponymous riot of 1967.

Research has shown that music has the power to change emotional states, perceptions, physiology and elevate spiritual awareness. Certain types of music, devotional and sacred in nature, also have the power to transform individual and collective consciousness into the heightened states of love, forgiveness, compassion and physical healing.

The world is in disarray. The changing climate sets a course towards catastrophe for the future of our children. Social inequality is growing. Populists and notorious liars are closing in on democracy’and racism creeps forward from all corners.

This is one of my favorite poems celebrating the unexpected splendor of new life out of anticipated death. Happy Easter, all you resurrection artists.

When artist Dana Schutz presented “Open Casket,” an abstract painting of Emmett Till’s open casket-the Chicagoan 14 year old African American male teen lynched in the Mississippi Delta in the summer of 1955- she could not have fathomed the conflagration that erupted. The painting hangs at the Whitney Museum in New York City but under the daily watchful eye of protestors blocking its view they termed the “black death spectacle.” Some protesters sent letters of grievances to the museum curators requesting the painting be taken down and others have flatly demanded the destruction of it.

​We got bells! We got arches! Well, really now . . . Arches ‘n Bells is a skit, play, dialogue, monologue, reader’s theater, and litany provider for churches and faith communities. Our writers focus on producing high-quality ​resources from a progressive, grace-centered angle. All the stuff is downloadable for you to print and use. Oh . . . and we’re about fun too. Anybody going to the site should be able to see that. What’s more is that these works are intergenerational—they work with kids, teens, adults, and various subsections of a faith community’s demographics.

Feminism is liberation, and for that reason we must liberate ourselves from the oppression of capital. “Another feminism” isn’t a slogan, it’s a daily act, simple but strong. It’s transformation, it’s community. It’s freedom.

There are differences within diversity. This issue scratches below the superficial veneer of diversity and is an eerie reminder of how minority groups are often pitted against one another.

Receiving the award is a historic moment not only for True Colors, but also for the White House in recognizing and honoring the artistic talents of America’s LGBTQ youth, especially youth of color.

NGOs, activists, musicians and actors mobilize and cry out in favour of social justice. And as always the esteemed visual artists are barely heard from.

As a youth I was fascinated by a custom practiced among Pacific Northwest Native Americans called the Potlatch. I capitalize the Chinook term here, though my OED does not, because it seems every bit as sacred as Christmas and Easter. Having accumulated much, a person (often a chief) would give away or burn all possessions and start afresh. Though my dictionary implies this was a show of wealth and prestige rather than generosity and humility, I’d say Christmas or any show of charity and humility is practiced with similar mixed motives, so why quibble?

  Warning: Minor spoilers ahead! I say “minor” because there’s no plot points given away here, I’m just discussing an aspect of a

“It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” and “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” are both 19th century American carols created in the context of war which address its horror directly.

I've been facing alot of challenges this month - I don't know about you. The turmoil of election season - and its results - challenged me. Deeply. The surge in racially-motivated violence in the United States had me fear for the safety of many whom I love - including my own family. The book I collaborated on received a scathing review from an influential website of professed siblings in Spirit. Don't get me wrong: It's been a good month, too. Beautiful connections with family, friends, and loved ones. A great time at AAR/SBL in San Antonio - a gathering of over 10,000 religion and spirituality scholars who really care about the difference faith and scholarship makes in the world.

When I was told that the framing devise of Boston’s SpeakEasy’s current production of “The Scottsboro Boys” is a minstrel show I was aghast. Employing a defunct and racist American theatrical form - where black face makeup used by white performers is its signature - to narrate a horrific travesty of justice, on surface, you don’t expect it to trickle your funny bone nor to entertain you. However, John Kander and his collaborator and lyricist the late Fred Ebb, have pushed theatrical boundaries by subverting the minstrel trope to highlight gearing forms of racism and discrimination in our judicial system.

Art can heal us, inspire us, and alter our brain chemistry With so much talk about the evidence of the positive effects of yoga and meditation, you might be surprised at what scientific research also says about how art effects the brain. Long before modern neuroscience, artists were creating works to inspire people and today complex brain imaging scans can show us just how art changes the physiology of our brains. Contemplation, observing, and taking in beauty all stimulate pleasure centers within the brain while increasing blood flow by up to 10% in the medial orbitofrontal cortex. This can lead to an elevated state of consciousness, wellbeing, and better emotional health.