Journal

Category: Justice and Mercy

“One Step At A Time” by Sarah Kohrs

Star of Bethlehem is a perennial bulb, with lily-like flowers on a slender stem that reaches no more than 12 inches high. Over time, they cluster and have been noted as an invasive in riparian buffers, where Star of Bethlehem victoriously compete with native fauna. By...
“Clearing Sacred Space”

“Clearing Sacred Space”

As we gathered up the tools, rain splattered the tarp, stretched tightly across the tools on the Haley’s farm truck.  Rain doused the orange flames, which sizzled and popped among the remaining embers of the burn pile.  Rain drenched like a cleansing shower as I took...
150 Years Later, Honoring The Victims…

150 Years Later, Honoring The Victims…

Clearing the Slave Cemetery at Corhaven Saturday May 16, 12.30pm-4.30pm This month we’ve marked the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and then the assassination of Abraham Lincoln a few days later. Lincoln himself interpreted that bloody war in part as...

Notes from “Honoring the Forgotten”

Notes from “Honoring the Forgotten” a first conversation about the slave cemetery at Corhaven held on January 16, 2015 (MLK Day Weekend) Corhaven is located at 2883 Quicksburg Road, Quicksburg VA  22847 Local residents of Shenandoah County and also the History Club of...

The Slave Cemetery at Corhaven

I’ve been waiting five years for this.  On the property of Corhaven, there is a slave cemetery dating from the mid-1800s.   While we’ve quietly and prayerfully tended it, it’s time to really honor our brothers and sisters who lay there.  This is no small feat, and one...

Prayers for Ferguson, and similar settings

We cannot escape the news and the situation in Ferguson, nor should we.  Lord, have mercy.  These events remind us that there is much work to be done for racial reconciliation in America.  Not only do we pray for peace in Ferguson, but we pray for change in our own...
More Heartbreak in Bethlehem

More Heartbreak in Bethlehem

Exactly one year ago today I was in Israel and Palestine with The Telos Group.  My full blogs about that can be found here.  It could have been that exactly one year ago I visited the Tent of Nations, a stunning example of Christian faith, life, and what it means to...

“No more hurting people. Peace.”

“No more hurting people.  Peace.” These are the words of 8-year-old Martin Richard, of Dorchester, Massachusets.  They are from a poster he created in school, after the  shooting death of Trayvon Martin.  When Martin Richard was killed in the bomb blast at...

Praise God!! Fifteen Years Later…

In 1997, some old friends and those who would become old friends hosted the Emerging Urban Leaders Summit in Washington DC, with the help of Re:generation Quarterly, The Falls Church, and Leadership Network.  We wanted to name and capitalize on the fact that God was...

A Marathon vs. A Sprint

The long, tedious work of love in the ordinary is what the work of justice most needs.  So said another old friend, Gary Haugen, who spoke this morning.  His talk opened by reflecting on the problem that remains:  27 million people in slavery…more than New York,...

Being Just vs. Doing Justice

This conference is impressive, and so heartening (more on that later).  But some thoughts on the opening plenary session.  A note about scope:  several thousand people in the Philadelphia Convention Center (the majority quite on the younger side) from around the...

What Is Justice, Anyway?

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard the word ‘justice’ already, well… The effect of so much attention on one topic from so many different angles can hurt the head, and it makes me ask, “OK, now just what are we talking about again?  And just what is...

Creation Care as an Act of Justice

Corhaven is a 17 acre slice of earth, given to our community to steward well for the purposes of God which includes stewarding well the land itself.  Peter Harris is the founder and international director of A Rocha (their motto “Christians in Conservation”), a well...

How To Sustain a Justice Movement

Thoughts from a break-out session by Paul Metzger on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Mother Teresa, and John Perkins Believe in a suffering God Believe in a resurrected God See Jesus in relation to the poor Sense your own poverty in relation to the poor Lay down your life for...

Done Watching : Do It

At a smaller breakfast this morning sponsored by World Relief, Lynne Hybels shared her story of her own transformation.  In her words, if you’d told her ten years ago she’d be deep in the work of working for peace in Israel/Palestine and offering hope to the women of...

Good News About Justice

Coracle · The Blessing of Pursuing Justice Just over one year over a year ago, The Falls Church Anglican did a four-week sermon series on justice.  Kicking it off with the sermon above, I reflected on the Christian’s privilege of being able to work for justice, and...
Blogging Justice…and why

Blogging Justice…and why

Dear friends, I’m going to be quick to the point, and then make a bigger point.   The point:  This Thursday night through Saturday I’m going to be participating in The Justice Conference in Philadelphia with World Relief, to be with a few dear dear friends...