• What’s your earliest memory of becoming aware that some people looked different from you? I grew up on military bases. I think what you’re probably aiming for is when did I figure out that it MEANT something. The first conscious othering I knew was our German friends who had…
KATIE COOK Reflections on My Life as an Ally First, I apologize for the length of this reflection. I could have included a lot more, but I didn’t think you’d want to wade through it. My story begins in the 1950s. I think I chose myself as an ally to…
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Isaiah 58:6Dear OEF Siblings, Thank you to those who submitted art, poetry, and prose reflecting on our commitment…
Totally unqualified to write on the subject and requesting your indulgence, I continue your servant council’s Lenten reflections on this year’s topic though I am pretty certain that I am the least knowledgeable in our little order and perhaps even the most unsure-footed among all of God’s followers when it…
On our fridge we have tacked up a quote from Martin Luther King that reads “if you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless…
Scripture: Luke 1:38 — “Mary said, ‘Here I am, the Lord’s slave. Let it become for me just as you said.’” Exhortation: The angel’s message to Mary was strange. The Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem was empty: there was no ark. Many common people in Galilee, and those in…
In Luke 2:1-20, the emperor Augustus and the governor of Quirinius, men of power, wealth, and privilege, are the backdrop of what appears to be an ordinary couple in a difficult situation: they have freshly arrived in town and Mary is great with child, about to deliver, but the inn…
Scripture: John 1:26-27 — “Standing among you – unknown to you – is the one coming after me; I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandal.” Exhortation: The one who is coming – who, as John says, “is greater than I” – the greatest of all (who…
Scripture: Mark 1:4 — “John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Exhortation: Baptism initiates us into a life – a way or path – of repentance. When we are baptized, we become lifelong penitents. When John baptized Jesus, the Spirit kissed him with approval and anointed…
Scripture: Mark 13:33-37 — Jesus said, “Be on your guard, stay awake … Stay awake … What I am saying to you I say to all, Stay awake!” Exhortation: In times of hopelessness or high emotions, we might give in to thinking like others. We might reach for wrong solutions; we might…