Circuit Writer

My column for the June 20 -  July 3 publication of The Tahlequah Christian.

———

“Cursed be Canaan; lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”
- Genesis 9:25 (NRSV)

These words of Noah, ostensibly spoken to his sons following his drunken revelry (Genesis 9:20-27), became one of the greatest biblical justifications for slavery in the theological imagination of Christendom in the slaveholding United States. In this exchange, Noah becomes drunk off the fruit of his vineyard, passes out naked and drunk, and his son Ham commits the great sin of looking upon him in his nakedness. On awaking, Noah then proceeds to curse Canaan, Ham’s son, for this affront, and some 2,500 years after the Hebrew canon was collected into one book of scripture, it becomes one of the centerpieces of Christian justification for holding black slaves. continue reading…

This is a devotional I originally wrote for 2009 Lenten Series published by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma.

————

Devotion for 8 April 2009

Mark 11:12-19

He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
But you have made it a den of robbers.’

- Mark 11:17

Jesus angrily overturning tables in the temple makes for a great action movie, but what does Mark’s short clip really show us as travelers on a Lenten journey?  Jesus’ words point us back to the scripts of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah 56:1-8 portrays God’s community as welcoming foreigners, gathering in outcasts, creating a house of prayer for all people.  Jeremiah 7:1-15 paints a dark picture for those who deal unjustly with their neighbors. continue reading…