Tag: questioning
“There is no such thing as Palestine!”–Dispatch from Palestine
“You can’t teach me anything about Europeans,” once commented the deputy mayor of Jerusalem. Europeans had killed his father. “You can’t teach me anything about Palestinians.” Palestinians... Read More
“You are an ambassador”–Dispatch from Palestine
We drive along the barbed electric fence that surrounds the Israeli settlement of Har Gilo. We are headed to the Walajah valley of the Palestinian territory. The valleys are deep and lush with pine ... Read More
The Beginning of a Settlement — Dispatch from Palestine
Mahmoud’s family lives one Palestinian hill over from a newly-forming illegal Jewish settlement. Six Jewish settlers arrived about a year ago with tents and made a primitive campsite. All year they ... Read More
“Come and see, then go and tell”–Dispatch from Palestine
The Tent of Nations is an organic farm on a long narrow strip of Palestinian land that has held its deed since 1917, through four occupations: Turkish, British, Jordanian, and Israeli. It is placed in... Read More
When in Rome, Do as the Progressive Roman Jews Do
I was late to Rosh Hashanah services at Beth Hillel, Rome’s new progressive Jewish community. I meant to leave my apartment at 6pm but I scooted out the door by 6:45pm, realizing that the mistake wo... Read More
God loves you?
I recently had my first opportunity to go through the grueling experience known as “applying for a pastoral ministry position.” Going into it, I had no idea that this process would be intense in... Read More
Ethically Lost
A few years ago, my family was attending an out-of-town reunion in a tiny and strangely laid out town in Indiana. Being big believers in carpooling, we drove to all of the various events together, pac... Read More
What is darkness? What is light?
Last Sunday, March 30, Dean of Duke Chapel Luke Powery preached a sermon titled “Seeing in the Dark.” In it he described the way Christian scriptures tend to associate darkness with struggle, blin... Read More