I was reading in the gospels. Luke wrote about Jesus's and the women. Death has consumed him. Despair had consumed them. Yet, the women prepared spices. "On the sabbath," he writes, "they rested." The faith of the women teach us this: Hell is shaking. God is working. We can rest.
Their faith does not destroy death nor does their faith destroy despair. That is the paradox of faith: we don't have the right answers always nor can we always articulate what we know to be true and possible. We, like the women, can prepare and rest while Better is on the way.
Isn't it fitting that in a society where "men make the rules and rule the day" that Luke would dismantle the problematic patriarchy by pointing to women not simply as the embodiment of our faith but also as a witness to the power of our faith. They witness even in the worry.
He moves us from simply embracing the problematic patriarchy to embracing the women's prophetic performance. Though Word of God is not there, the word of God is still speaking. Even if the Lord is not present, in the women, the ways of the Lord are still powerful.

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More from @stewartdantec

4 Apr
Be clear: not everyone responded to the story of resurrection the same way. "They left the tomb with fear and great joy," the gospel writer says. "They worshiped him," it was said. "Some doubted," another says. Jesus doesn't police their response but in love embraces them.
I imagine Jesus looks on our responses to so many today with great sadness. I imagine one of the reasons people struggle with our stories of faith is because those stories, sounding more like fairy tales, must always have good endings with responses of triumph, cheer, and joy.
The power of these stories, the power of the story of Jesus, is this: we are neither heroes nor are we villains, but we are human and embraced with a story that holds us and holds out better for us than many of the stories around us. And Jesus is quite patient with us in this.
Read 5 tweets
3 Apr
What does it mean to talk theologically about death and resurrection on the eve of remembering the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.? What is hope’s meaning in the face of white terror and American imperialism? What is good news for the oppressed? These are the questions.
“People, I felt,” James Baldwin writes, “ought to love the Lord because they loved Him, and not because they were afraid of going to Hell.” How can James Baldwin inform how we expand our concept of God, and of good news, and what it means to be Christian?
What does it mean for us to preach a powerless Savior and a liberating gospel when, as Baldwin writes, that “in the realm of power, Christianity has operated with an unmitigated arrogance and cruelty”? This is the type of religion Baldwin shows is what I want to hold on to.
Read 6 tweets
3 Apr
At times it feels like we have never escaped from under that cloud that covered the face of the earth during the crucifixion of Jesus. We know that Sunday is coming, with a risen Messiah, promises of love, power, and justice; but for us, Saturday is here, and it’s still dark.
Sometimes nothing about Holy Week feels holy, and nothing about the sacred story feels sacred. But somehow we find ourselves here, still believing, still loving, still holding one another, still facing down empires, still shaking souls and bodies straight, still, still, still.
I imagine that is what Jesus meant when he told the disciples, “you will be my witnesses.” Though you face the worst, I’m still here. Though you fail and fail, you’re still loved. Though the world’s pain feels unyielding, love still is at work. That’s somehow is good news.
Read 4 tweets
3 Apr
I was reading the gospel story of disciples on the way to Emmaus. Though they lost so much faith and they lost so much hope, they didn’t lose what they learned of Jesus in welcoming the stranger. Though they do not recognize him, they still welcomed Jesus in their darkest moment.
It is in the hospitality for strangers and their willingness to hold on the pieces faith they learned to embody, that they position themselves for divine possibilities. That might be one of the most important parts of the story: they gave up on so much but not on what they lived.
I wonder for us today, who in the same way are burdened by the weight of shattered dreams and hopes of life for bodies who were crucified, if this story can instruct us in telling and living better faith stories. Even when we can’t articulate our faith, we still can embody it.
Read 6 tweets
29 Mar
It’s clear that what many call “Christian witness” and “biblical values” is actually just white supremacy, sexism, and homophobia wrapped up in the name of Jesus. It neither loves nor liberates. It is neither powerful nor saves. James Baldwin is right: this faith is broken.
“And the passion with which we loved the Lord,” he writes, “was a measure of how deeply we feared and distrusted and, in the end, hated almost all strangers, always, and avoided and despised ourselves.” Christian faith should move us from fear and distrust to love and liberation.
Jesus said that people would know us by our love. Sadly, many people know us by our distrust, violence, exclusion, arrogance, and abuse. Jesus does not protect himself or us from unloving Christians but he does show us a better way: a way that embraces humanity, not destroy it.
Read 4 tweets
28 Mar
Super excited about doing a presentation on Islamic political theology tomorrow for class. I’m particularly talking about Islamic theologies of liberation by doing a reading of Farid Esack, Saba Mahmood, and Malcolm X. This assignment has been so much fun. Here’s some books!
I particularly am utilizing @ashoncrawley thoughts on the Blues that I came across in his book and what it means to discern and articulate theologies of love and liberation in a post-9/11 Blues moment—a moment as we are caught between domination, devaluation, and discrimination.
Hamid Dabashi and Saba Mahmood are most helpful in setting the post-9/11 socio-historical/political context of the intersections of religion and democracy. Rahemtulla and Bretherton are incredibly helpful on constructive theological frameworks. Here’s to a great time! 🙌🏾
Read 4 tweets

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