Faith • Grief • History • Hope
Faith • Grief • History • Hope
Artificial intelligence can assist with research, biblical interpretation, writing, and even pastoral preparation. But the central ethical question is not simply whether pastors use AI. It is what we ask these tools to do, and whether we surrender responsibilities that belong to the relationship between pastor and people.
Why can the death of someone we never met leave us devastated? Dolly Parton’s death reminds us that public grief is real—and perhaps asks something more of us: How can we be more Dolly?
To recast this day as a “jubilee” fundamentally misses the order of things. Biblically, a jubilee comes after true repentance and restoration. Celebration must be rooted in honesty about our failures; otherwise, the event risks becoming a spectacle rather than a transformation.
As a Church leader, I must be clear. When political leaders speak of annihilation, claim divine sanction for violence, or dismiss the Church’s moral voice, they step outside the bounds of Church teaching and basic human decency.
That truth compels us to speak plainly today as we continue to grieve the heinous shooting in Minneapolis and the death of Renee Nicole Good. When violence is carried out, especially by agents of authority, it demands more than prayers alone. It demands truth, accountability, and a sober reckoning with how power is exercised in our common life.
We can all be skeptical of politicians and why they do what they do, but I hope that what Ms. Greene wants is a valid path of redemption and reconciliation.
I am not called to be Chaplain to the empire; I am called to be a holy disruption. God's Word is meant to soothe, but it is also meant to flip over tables of injustice.
The shepherd did not force the one sheep to leave; the one sheep wandered off. God does not cast us out. God does not smite. God does not send hurricanes and tornadoes to wipe out people. God goes after the one, you and me, and brings us back. We wander off, we separate ourselves, but God is always in hot pursuit trying to get us back.
Prayer without action is just empty words. If we pray to God to end gun violence but refuse to do anything about it, we are just speaking into the air. Pope Francis said it best when he said, "We pray for hungry people and then we feed them." We pray and then we do, that's how it works.
Caring for people includes not making fun of people with disabilities or others, not cheating on your spouse, not lying, not cheating, not defrauding others, honoring all of humanity, not taking away or denying human rights, and the list goes on.