Author Archives: jledmiston

There are moments that the words don’t reach.
There is suffering too terrible to name.
You hold your child as tight as you can
And push away the unimaginable.*

Nobody wants to be in this club. Whether suffering happens because of natural disasters in the Hill Country of Texas or the mountains of North Carolina, or because of human evil manifested in school shootings, the suffering is indeed too terrible to name. And it happens in accidents and through illness. The unimaginable.

What do we do when our hearts break with these families, but it hasn’t happened personally to us? We still have our children and grandchildren. We still have our loved ones who’ve miraculously survived somehow.

We’ve been told what not to do, but we forget. Bless Kate Bowler for reminding us, but still we are imperfect and clueless empathizers.

It can’t happen right away, but I wonder if – at some time – we can share stories together. This strikes me as the role of Church in times like these.

It’s not the role of Church to fix a grieving family or expect them to bounce back or use this holy time to recite platitudes. We provide some food. We offer to run errands. We ask them how today is going – even years later, because yesterday might have been horrible but today is better.

Sharing stories seems to be one opportunity to provide space for grieving – not today, not next week and maybe not ten years from now. But maybe sometime. Maybe we who have not experienced such a depth of grief can learn from shared stories, remembering that everyone’s suffering is their own. What was soothing to one family might not be soothing to others. Maybe it would help if we invited people to share their stories. Or, if they never want to share, we accept that too.

When I was a parish pastor, we invited friends who’d endured a great measure of suffering the chance to tell their story. Every week for a season, we sat and heard people we love tell us what happened:

• The dad of twins but one of the twins died at birth.
• The spouse of a husband with early onset of dementia (i.e. his thirties).
• The mom of children who died in an accident.
• The parents of children who’d died by suicide.

We heard whatever they wanted to share. We just listened. They offered what had really helped and what didn’t. (Again, there is no perfect response. Every situation and every person is different.)

The worst thing we can do is nothing: avoid those who grieve, forget them especially during difficult seasons. We don’t have to drop by their home with a chirpy, “I know today is ____’s birthday and I thought we could go out for burgers.” Just call. Or send a note. We aren’t reminding them of something that they haven’t already remembered. We are called to love people the way they want to be loved. Ask them. And if they reject our offerings, don’t take it personally.

We can do better, Church. And we have a fresh opportunity to be Church this week. Don’t hop in the car and drive to Kerrville “to help.” Send money here or here. Let’s not make it about us. Yes, pray. And also send funds if possible. And then pray some more.

*First verse of “It’s Quiet Uptown” by Lin-Manuel Miranda from Hamilton. Image source.

You know those checklists on social media where you can check off the National Parks (or Heritage Sites or Countries) you’ve visited and then learn if you have been to more places or fewer places than the average person? I have been pondering a Proximity Checklist because I think it informs us regarding our own politics and our own theology.

Some stats:

78.6 million Americans are on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as of March 2025 according to Medicaid.gov. This is more than the populations of California, New York and Florida combined.

71.3 million are on Medicaid only. 7.3 million are on CHIP only. This represents about one-fifth of the population in the United States.

Below is my unscientific measure of our privilege. I’m not going to ask for your “score” but let’s sit with our scores and ponder if God is calling us to expand our proximity to vulnerable people in this country.

___ I know an undocumented immigrant personally.

___ I personally know someone currently incarcerated.

___ I personally know someone who’s been released from incarceration.

___ I attended public schools.

___ I’ve attended a free or non-profit clinic for healthcare.

___ I’ve attended a free or non-profit clinic for legal services.

___ I personally know someone who is currently unhoused.

___ I have personally been unhoused at some point in my life.

___I personally know someone who struggles with mental health issues.

___ I personally struggle with mental health issues.

___ I receive or have received in the past Medicaid and/or CHIP.

___ I personally know someone who receives or has received Medicaid and/or CHIP.

___ I have personally depended on a Food Bank for food.

___ I have personally used public transportation.

___ I have been arrested.

___ I personally have a disability that impairs my ability to walk, hear, and/or see.

___ I live with someone who has a disability that impairs their ability to walk, hear, and/or see.

___I have had to make a choice about whether to buy food or medicine at some point in my life.

___ I live or have lived in a community with toxins in the water or ground.

___I have been subjected to discrimination based on my skin color.

Bryan Stevenson has famously said:

“It’s actually in proximity to the poor that we hear things that we won’t otherwise hear, that we’ll see things we won’t otherwise see. The things we hear and see are critical to our knowledge, and our capacity to problem solve.”

On this Fourth of July weekend when we enjoy food and friends and liberty, let’s consider our neighbors whose Fourth of July will not be like ours. Privilege blinds us.

A faithful parishioner concerned that her very small church might close, recently said this as proof that her congregation was alive and well:

We have continued to have worship to this day.

She was right. Through COVID, through all their pastors and even through the days when they haven’t had a pastor, the worship service has continued week after week. They pray prayers. They sing songs. They hear a sermon. They celebrate The Lord’s Supper. To her, this means that the congregation was nowhere near closing.

Sadly, she is mistaken. The last thing to go when a church is on the cusp of closing is the Sunday worship service. Literally, I have never known a church that didn’t have regular worship before deciding to shut their doors permanently.

They are not closing because the people no longer showed up for worship. Maybe there were only 6 or 7 people in the pews, but worship still happened.

They are closing because they long ago stopped serving God by serving their community.

They are not closing because “there were no young families in church on Sunday mornings.” They are closing because they never showed any tangible concern for the children outside the walls of their church building.

Worship is the last thing to go which is ironic. If the worship had reminded them that they are not a church unless they are making disciples “out there“ they would not be vulnerable to closing. If the worship had inspired them to serve “the least of these” who need food, shelter, and community, they would not be vulnerable to closing.

Church Family: yes, we are called to worship the LORD. And we are called to heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and support the weak. The moment we stop serving our neighbors is the moment when our churches begin their – often long – journey towards shuttering their doors.

I’m sorry, but this is true.

Actually, I don’t know. There are plenty of people in church leadership roles who are kind and friendly and well-educated. But they are not strong leaders.

It’s an awkward conversation when a Church Personnel Committee asks me how they can bolster their pastor’s ability to lead. And I’m talking about Collaborative Leadership here, not Dictatorial Leadership. A good leader casts a vision that resonates with the congregation because they share an expressed common goal.

While I don’t know how to measure good leadership, I’m concerned about the Pastor’s leadership strengths when I see situations like these:

• The Music Director has been a bully through the last two pastorates. Pastor A was intimidated and allowed the Music Director to control every aspect of worship. And then Pastor B tried to build a coalition through a whisper campaign to sabotage the Music Director. A true leader addresses what needs to change for the church to be healthy. If those changes cannot happen with the current Music Director, they will need to be replaced. It’s not personal; it’s about having a healthy church staff.
• A wealthy family makes a large annual donation to the church only to then control the budget so that the donation is laundered through the church books to benefit the givers. If confronted, this family might take their money and leave the congregation. That would be their choice. But no longer is the church involved in fraud. (Note: what unethical/illegal things are we willing to do to keep bullies happy?)
• The congregation is divided about the sale of a piece of church land. One side wants to sell to the highest bidder ensuring many generations of financial security. The other side wants to sell under market rates to an organization that will build affordable housing on the property. The Church is at a standstill – and has been for years. A decision to do nothing is a decision. This is a great opportunity for the Pastor to remind the congregation who they are and what their mission is – not in a way that shames and blames one side, but in a way that brings people together. Note: there will always be a group of members who are unhappy and they might leave. God be with them.
• There is a church staff of five and nobody’s on the same page. They rarely meet as a team and they each have their own priorities. They sabotage each other if given the chance. The Head of Staff is responsible for cultivating a culture of staff unity and common practices. We don’t keep secrets from each other (unless there are legal ramifications that require such confidentiality.) We give each other credit for their ideas. We do not tolerate staff bullying.

Do you see a theme here? Good leaders are unafraid of conflict. Good leaders lovingly coach other leaders. Good leaders create a culture of trust and health.

We need more good leaders.

How can we encourage Pastors to develop their leadership skills? Pastors – listen when the Personnel Committee suggests you get a coach and ask hard questions like, “Can you share examples of times when I could have been a better leader?” And then concede that you can and will do better. And thank them for being brave enough to give helpful feedback.

Show me a congregation with excellent leaders – from the Pastors to the Elders to the Support Staff – and I’ll show you a thriving church.

As congregations seek new pastors, I read through a lot of church profiles and many of them sound the same. The dull ones merely want a preacher, a teacher, and a person to officiate at weddings, baptisms, and funerals. The more interesting ones want a pastor who will inspire and lead them. They want someone with charisma who will love them.

But – interestingly enough – I’ve recently been asking Search Committees directly what their dream candidate would be like and I keep hearing the same word: joy. “We need a joyful leader.“

Now more than ever, I see a search for joy in the midst of every dark thing happening right now. And here’s the thing about “joy” – you have to be a deeply faithful and hopeful person to have authentic joy in these days. Not all joy is real.

There is Clueless Joy. Some folks are great at smiling their way through life and not thinking about bad things. This is a misunderstanding of Philippians 4:8. It’s the kind of outlook that says – after a church conflict – “Let’s pretend this never happened.” The world is burning and the joyfully clueless deny that there’s even a camp fire.

There is Insincere Joy. Something wonderful has happened but some people only seem to be happy with us. It’s expected to congratulate people when the surgery is successful, the baby is healthy, and the wedding is celebrated. But there’s no twinkle in their eyes with us. There’s no genuine full-body smile. There are no tears of gratitude as if the trials have been their own. Sincere joy alongside God’s people is one of the best parts of ministry but I see some pastors seem nonplussed by Good News.

And then there is Authentic Joy. This kind of joy is based on a deep faith that trusts God to work in the midst of devastation. God is not magic. God does not grant a carefree life to the faithful. But the faithful weirdly experience deep authentic joy nevertheless. Only the Spirit can help us with this and if I can’t pull up authentic joy in the throes of overwhelming shock or grief, maybe you can stand with me and bring it.

I am consistently feeling ruined by the truth of immigrants living in terror and the vulnerable faced with no food, no healthcare, no shelter. Every day government officials seem to relish in abject cruelty with no concern for the poor. A steady diet of this can drain any of us of hope.

And so we need leaders with authentic joy who can nourish a culture of community and belonging and unconditional love. Yes, solid preachers and teachers educate us and – we hope – inspire us. But who we are at our core – human beings with that deep, real joy – brings people together in a common Body. That Body is glued together to fight darkness in the name of the one True God.

Photo of our sweet Spense who exuded joy most days before passing away in February 2025.

Actually I don’t want any criminals roaming freely in my neighborhood – documented or not. This accusation was hurled at me recently – that I want unrestrained criminals pillaging our nation because I believe that ICE officers are acting like the Secret Police. We don’t do Secret Police in this country.

I feel moved to point out to people who like what ICE is doing that they do not understand the law.

As my sister AAM says, “Every day’s a school day.” And so I invite us all to learn something about immigration law in this fine –but we-can-do-better – country.

Some of those being arrested are not “illegal” much less “criminal.” Some of those arrested are actually citizens of this country, because they’ve been erroneously labeled terrorists, gang members, and pedophiles. And the agents arresting the immigrants – or ostensible immigrants – are masked men in unmarked white vans.

This is the problem, the illegality, and the sin of it.

Can you – friendly citizen – imagine an ICE agent handcuffing you and taking you to a detention facility on your way to work today? Probably not. It probably won’t happen to any of us, especially if our complexion and life situation is considered unsuspicious. But it’s possible.

It happened to Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez in Florida. He was born in Georgia and he was held for 48 hours before being released by a judge who “found no basis for the charge.” It also happened to these U.S. citizens: Job Garcia in California. Jose Castro in New York. Adrian Andrew Martinez in California. Abel Orozco Ortega in Illinois.

Friends here is the actual truth and the law in this country:

• Citizens of the United States of America have the right to speak freely, to practice whatever religion we choose, and to assemble peaceably. This means we can criticize our political leaders out loud, on paper, and online. We cannot threaten them of course. But we can express our disagreement/disgust/disappointment freely. We can peaceably protest anything we wish, according to local laws (i.e. we might need a permit.) And we can worship cantaloupes if we want to. Also true: we cannot assume that our Christian church bells are okay any more than a Muslim congregation cannot assume that their Call to Prayer from their Muezzin is okay. It depends.
• Another fun fact: It’s not just “citizens” who have rights under the First Amendment of The Constitution. Any person physically in this country has those rights even if they are undocumented. Even. If. They. Are. Undocumented.
• There are several ways a non-citizen can be documented (i.e. legally in this country.)
  • Green Card/Permanent Resident Card – People qualify for this based on family, employment, and following U.S. laws. They pay Social Security and can receive Social Security payments and Medicare. They cannot vote.
  • TRS/Temporary Resident Status – People qualify for this if they are students, traveling, or working. They pay Social Security (if employed) but are not eligible to receive benefits/Medicare when they retire/are disabled. They cannot vote. There are several kinds of TRS:
    • Student Visa – foreign nationals get this to study in the U.S.
    • Visitor Visa – you and your family are traveling from another country to visit Disney World.
    • Work Visa – Foreign nationals working in the U.S. or those with permission to work in the U.S.
    • Temporary Protected Status – There’s a war or a natural disaster in your country and you cannot safely be there. You must appear in immigration court to check in regularly.*
  • Asylum/Refugee Status – You need to prove you could be harmed if returned to your home country. The application document is called Form I-589 and you need the receipt of that app doc to carry around to prove you are “legal.” If asylum is granted, you get Form I-94 with a stamp that will state something like “asylum granted indefinitely.” They are eligible for Social Security benefits. They cannot vote.

The evil thing happening is that many of those being arrested/detained are actually in the United States legally:

Mahmoud Khalil is a green card holder. He was arrested for speaking out about Palestinian rights as a Columbia University student. He was not charged with a crime. He was not guilty of protesting violently. He spent 104 days in detention in Louisiana (he lives in NY) and his infant son was born during his incarceration. He missed his son’s birth.

Luis Carlos Jose Marcano Silva had asylum status. He was mistaken for a gang member, arrested, and sent to a prison in El Salvador where he’s been since March. He was given “little or no due process under a little-known (1798) law called the Alien Enemies Act. … invoked by President Donald Trump for the first time since World War II.” His family has not heard from him since the day of his arrest.

Rumeysa Ozturk has a student visa. She’s a Fulbright scholar studying at Tufts when – in March – she was seized by ICE agents with weapons and shoved into an unmarked van (aka a kidnapping in most places). The reason: she wrote an op-ed in the student newspaper criticizing her university’s response to the violence in Gaza. In spite of her own First Amendment rights, Ms. Ozturk was detained in a Louisiana prison for 6 weeks before being released.

Legal residents of the USA are being arrested and placed in faraway detention centers, sometimes in other countries. These are not terrorists or criminals of any kind.

*What feels especially cruel is that immigrants with legal Temporary Protected Status are showing up in immigration court to renew their status – which is expected of them – only to have a judge randomly cancel their status making them immediately vulnerable to arrest. This is happening everywhere.

What can we do to stop this?

• Be knowledgeable about our constitutional rights. Even non-citizens are supposed to be protected under the law.
• Escort immigrants as they go to court for their scheduled check-ins. This has protected several immigrants. Be like Bishop Pham in San Diego.
• Contact our elected officials. Whether you suspect they agree or disagree with the current ICE raids, make our voices heard.

Or we can continue to assume that all immigrants are criminals. Or we can sit in the comfort of our coffee shops and work places and homes and not think about these neighbors at all.

Image of Mahmoud Khalil whose letter from prison is here. He has now been released, thanks be to God.

I was with Mom when her friend Dr. NM told her that she had breast cancer. I honestly can’t remember if anyone else was in the room. Mom was 46 and I was 24. It was one of those unexpected moments that stopped time. It feels – still – like everything in my life is marked either before or after that particular day.

It’s always scary when we call the doctor for test results and we hear “I’d like you to come into the office to hear the results.” That was my experience once when I was 46 and my kids were 14, 12, and 10. Even my doctor was shocked and it didn’t help when she said, “I’ve never seen this type of cancer with anyone your age. Most patients are in their 70s or 80s.” Overachiever.

As I write this, I do not have cancer, nor do my spouse, our kids, their kids, or their spouses. Believe me – my go-to Pollyanna line spoken in the throes of any small or large frustration is: “At least we don’t have cancer.“ That statement is not appropriate for everyone.

Of course there are thousands of people who have cancer today, and I know some of them and so do you. I was recently told by a grieving person that it’s not helpful to hear, “I have no words” when sitting with them after such a diagnosis.

I’ve read Kate Bowler. I know that it’s better to speak no words than to say stupid words (“my dog had cancer once“) but honestly, just loving people in any way that makes them feel loved is the best plan. Ask them what they need and trust them to tell you the truth. Maybe they need Go Fund Me donations. Maybe they need soup. Maybe they need to hear f-bombs or maybe they need to feel safe yelling f-bombs into the night at us. Maybe they don’t need us at all because they already have their people. It’s not about us.

Again, I am profoundly grateful not to have cancer today. But I’m on my ninth day of cold symptoms that seem to be getting worse. I have laryngitis and can’t keep my eyes open and breathing is not easy. But this is a minor concern and I’m fairly certain I’ll recover. Since I speak for a living, it’s been an exercise in humility this week as I’ve canceled events one by one, thinking I would be able to work today and then realize that – nope – still can’t talk or breathe. Bring on the popsicles.

Our family had one of those holy moments this morning when the diagnosis could have been so much worse. “At least we don’t have cancer” was exchanged for “at least we don’t have Multiple System Atrophy or Corticobasal Degeneration.” The truth is that some people do have those diagnoses and that’s horrible.

Other truths: all of us are sick in our own ways. All of us need “assisted living.” My prayer is – whatever happens in this life to me or to the people I love – that I’ll deal with it faithfully and with gratitude to science and God – not necessarily in that order.

Now more than ever, let’s be gentle with each other out there. Life is amazing. And life is really hard.

Image is from my life today.

I didn’t attend one of the 2000 planned protests last Saturday, for what it’s worth. I was not feeling well for one thing but – most of all – I was struck by the comment of a friend regarding the fact that protests are not enough. My friend is a faithful and wise Man of Color who was not criticizing those who gathered as much as he was challenging all of us to make a commitment that costs something if we are honestly interested in fighting injustice.

He wrote these words which sting a little, but they are supposed to sting a little. That’s what prophets do.

This is possibly the lamest form of resistance I can think of. These marches have been reduced to little more than slogans aimed at countering something that has already happened is happening. Beyond walking around holding signs with slogans there is zero tangible plan of action or strategy.

He speaks the truth.

[A couple other things: 1) These protests were not against the military. They were not meant to dishonor the Army on it’s 250th birthday. They were against threats to our democracy. 2) I also sound like a jerk here, and I have participated in other protests. The hope has always been to express anger/sadness/outrage so that the world can see that Things Are Not Okay And Some Of Us Want To Express That We Know Things Are Not Okay.]

Protesting is not enough. It’s just the beginning. It’s – as my friend C wrote – “the lamest form of resistance.”

Unless there is some degree of impact – moving the system towards justice – then we who protest and then return to our air conditioned homes congratulating ourselves have done too little to serve God’s purposes. How are we gladdening the hearts of God’s children? This is what God tells us to do over and over and over again. Release the captive. Feed the hungry. Support the widows. Welcome the strangers. Bring good news to the poor.

What does that look like in real life? What can we do beyond protesting peacefully?

Low risk ideas:

• Support political candidates who prioritize the values of Jesus (as opposed to the values of people who govern more like Pharaoh or Herod.) Jesus said culture-shifting words about caring for those on the margins whether they were poor, sick or powerless. Whether we call ourselves Christian or not, this is the most loving way to live in a cruel world.
• Donate money to organizations or people who are doing what we cannot do: provide shelter for the unhoused, assist refugees, rebuild neighborhoods after natural disasters, offer medical care to people in war torn places.
• Pray for ICE workers as well as at-risk immigrants. Pray for those in power as well as those abused by those in power.

Medium risk ideas:

• Volunteer where there are needs: tutor in low income schools, serve meals at the local shelter, teach financial literacy to people in debt, spend time in a respite care facility for people with dementia or developmental issues, mentor a refugee family, coach at-risk kids. Don’t do this one time. Do it enough to form relationships and partnerships. And don’t tell everybody we’re doing it.
• Find one organization that especially speaks to you and give sacrificially to them. I’m talking about not buying a second car in order to send that car payment to a program that changes somebody’s life.

High risk ideas:

• Stand between people in danger and people abusing their power. Kids being bullied and the bully. Adults being assaulted and the assaulter. Family members treated unfairly and the family members hurting them.
• Increase our proximity to the desperate. Live among “the least of these.” Send our children to schools where they are the minority and make those schools better. Put ourselves in spaces where we can learn from people whose lives do not include vacations or house keys. Be willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of those who are always uncomfortable.

Please suggest other ideas. As much as protests are important (and sometimes fun) we need to figure out how to do more than protest on an occasional weekend.

Image source.

First a confession: I am extremely judgmental, especially towards other Christians. Also, I know myself to be a miserable sinner. I’ll just start with those two statements.

I was at a party recently and – just that week in international news – a Latino man was illegally deported and sent to a Salvadorean prison because of what the President called “an administrative error.” A Russian missile strike killed 19 Ukrainians including 9 children. And the President of South Korea was impeached.

Because it was a party, I didn’t expect people to chat about this news.

But I was surprised at what we did talk about: “How is your kitchen renovation going?” “Are you still headed to the Faroe Islands in July?” “You can’t even tell you’ve had Botox.” There was a really, really long and heated conversation about how high your lawn grass should be before it’s mowed. “I’d say that Fescue needs to be cut at 2.5 inches.” “No, you’re thinking about Zoysia. Fescue should be cut at 3.5 inches.”

On the one hand, I’m impressed that people have the lawn grass knowledge of Jeopardy contestants. (Double Jeopardy Category: Grass Identification)

On the other hand, I wondered what they talk about when they aren’t at a party.

Debby Irving wrote in Waking Up White that White People talk about race only occasionally. But Black People talk about it daily. Why is that, do you think?

I’d venture to guess that Black People live in closer proximity to racism than White People. There are more situations in which Black people are unsafe out there. This is simply not true for your average White Person, especially those of us who live in “good neighborhoods.” Even if we live in “good neighborhoods” Black and Brown people are at higher risk by virtue of their skin color and inherent bias. Do we ever talk about this, White Friends?

Someone I know recently retired from a career in working for the poorest of the poor in her rural community. She has seen things: Domestic violence. Abject poverty. Shocking hunger. Utter desperation. And yet, she has made an enormous difference because of her proximity to the poor.

Bryan Stevenson is well known for talking about how essential to be in proximity to marginalized people – at least if we want the world to be better. I am struck by the number of people – and especially Christian people – who do not need for the world to be better because it’s already pretty great for us.

• We are installing bidets in our new bathrooms, unaware that 522,752 US households did not have basic plumbing in their homes in 2021.
• We are planning a fall vacation to Vermont and frankly don’t care to learn that 6% of Americans do not have reliable transportation to get to medical appointments.
• We are so excited to get reservations to that cool new restaurant, not wanting to think about the 1 in 5 children in the USA who are hungry. (We’re talking about 14 million children.) And I’m hoping to save room for the $15 crème brûlée.

Yes, thinking about poverty is a downer. And no, I don’t believe God intends for us to refrain from having nice bathrooms and vacations and dessert. But having proximity to people who are struggling because they lack basic human needs changes everything – from our priorities to our level of gratitude.

Have we seen things that have changed us to the point of altering what we talk about socially?

Do we know anyone unable to pay cash bail for their grandson who was arrested for robbery even though he was nowhere near the crime? Do we know anyone who is not taking their meds because they need the money for food? Do we know school children who are at risk every weekend of their lives? Do we know people living in shame because they cannot provide for their families, or they are victims of abuse but cannot leave or they are so controlled by their addictions that they rob from their friends? This is real life for too many of our neighbors. This personal experience changes us. It opens our eyes.

So let’s talk more about how we can make a difference in God’s world. And maybe talk less about our landscaping problems. (I warned you I am judgey.)

PS God loves gardens too. It’s the idolatry that’s a problem.

Image of Ladies Who Lunch. Artist unknown.

This opinion piece by Ken Jennings is excellent. Jeopardy host and lovely human Ken Jennings makes the point that the game show Jeopardy – beloved by Red, Blue, and Purple Americans – is one of the last bastions of fact-sharing.

They have made mistakes: Remember the “Paul wrote the book of Hebrews” debacle of 2022 that had Bible nerds screaming at our TV screens? Paul did not write the book of Hebrews. Nobody (except a misinformed Jeopardy researcher, apparently) believes this.

Our world is filled with misinformation, disinformation, and run-of-the-mill lying. Jeopardy offers refreshing facts at least five nights a week about sports and art and potent potables. The contestants are also a refreshing array of fact-knowers who look like I imagine the Reign of God looks. All the genders, backgrounds, skin colors, hairstyles, and job experiences we find in the USA and beyond. The only ones excluded are those of us who can’t think fast on our feet.

So, Church: do we want facts?

What we believe is often based on faith rather than historic, confirmable proof. I have a colleague who begins every funeral sermon with an attestation about the Fact that Jesus was born, lived, died and was resurrected. I believe that statement too, but we have no scientific proof.

Things we do know – almost certainly:

• The New Testament book called Hebrews was not written by Paul.
• Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute.
• Someone named Jesus lived and died and appeared three days later (according to the Jewish scholar Josephus -circa CE 37 – 100 – in Book 18 of The Antiquities of the Jews. At least one Biblical scholar however believes that those texts were altered and are not legitimate.
• Something galvanized First Century Jews and Gentiles to the point of creating a historically impactful influence after Jesus died.
• The Roman Emperor Constantine became a follower of Jesus at the end of his life and Constantinian Christianity was born – which in many ways wrecked the Church. Suddenly it was politically beneficial to be a Christian and so quite a few people self-identified as such – not because they wanted to follow the way of Jesus, but because it was culturally helpful. (We might note that this trend continues to wreck the Church of Jesus Christ to this day.)

Facts help us discern how we can serve our neighbors. If we know the statistics on childhood hunger, we can better feed those children. If we know the unfiltered condition of prisons and detention camps, we can know how to address those conditions. If we know the authentic efficacy of vaccines and pollution controls and construction regulations, we can know how to keep people safe.

Facts make us better humans.

What we cannot prove per se but I believe by faith:

• That God created an evolving world. Just because scientists can explain it, doesn’t mean God didn’t have something to do with it.
• That God loved us enough to put on human skin and move into the neighborhood. (Thank you Eugene Peterson – paraphrasing John 1:14 in The Message.)
• That God is all about diversity, equity, and inclusion and woe to those who oppose it.
• That we are drenched in God’s grace even when we don’t deserve it. And in response we are supposed to offer grace to others who don’t deserve it. That second part is really hard.

The Truth sets us free, but first it makes us miserable. We need to stop lying to each other – not only about the meaning of habeas corpus or the historical veracity of The Tulsa Massacre – but also about the health of our congregations, the effectiveness of our spiritual leaders and our responsibility to love and serve our neighbors.

Have a good weekend.