*This sermon was preached at Augustana Chapel at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, 6 December 2017, and it was featured on the We Talk. We Listen. Conversations about Diversity. This is the last post in this series of stand-alone essays. In 2020, I will be posting short excerpts of a work-in-progress on the theology,…
Resistance Gardens and Critical Pedagogy
How many of these names do you recognize: Destiny Watford, Marilyn Baptiste, Helen Slottje, or Kimberly Wasserman? These are the four most recent winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize for North America. They are women doing the unthinkable. Watford halted the production of an enormous incinerator next to public schools in south Baltimore. Baptiste defeated one of the largest gold and…
Take Me to the River (Walk)
San Antonio, Texas. Here’s a city that knows how to do a River Walk. 13 miles of lushly landscaped liquid greenways with barges and river taxis for water transport and concrete sidewalks for feet, wheelchairs, and strollers. According to the tour brochure, the River Walk, the Paseo del Rio, “is the largest urban ecosystem in…
Mothering and a Goose
My family tells a story about my mother as a young girl on a family outing. The only thing I know about this outing is that my mom was bitten by a Canada goose (Branta canadensis). Technically, since geese don’t have teeth, the story may be slightly exaggerated, but there is truth in it. Geese…
A Summer Bestiary
What did you do this summer? We met a polar bear. We were as up-close and personal to one of these magnificent creatures as we will ever be. We were at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin. It is a very intimate space. You see the animals, and it’s pretty clear that they see…
Making Photographs
Guest post by Thomas Jay Oord A theologian. With a camera. Exploring nature. In Chicago. Those four elements introduce intriguing possibilities and enlightening experiences. I know, because I am that theologian-photographer who made photographs in Chicago. Making Photographs I say I “make” photographs. Good photography often results when a photographer works from a vision and uses…
Stealing Lilacs
Yep. It’s come to this. I’m stealing lilacs from the parking lot of a Subway sandwich shop. This was after I nearly caused a multiple car pile-up just off Interstate 55 because I was looking for places to pull over and “borrow” blooming purple lilacs from the roadside bushes. How did it come to this?…
Sluggish Faith: Act Two
Recall act one from the last post. Woman walking to work. Finds slug. Pokes it with a stick. Lessons learned about noticing connections, full-bodied faith, and hanging on. Sluggish faith clings on. Act two. The camera pulls back on the scene. Act one was the close-up. The focus was drawn close, an intimate portrait of…
Sluggish Faith: Act One
When water and worms emerge on Chicago sidewalks after April rains, walking is like a game of hopscotch. On a recent Monday morning, I half-stepped, half-jumped my way to get to my writing group. Most Mondays, the walk comes after the marathon-sprint to get the kiddos dressed, fed, in the car, and on the way…
Roadkill and Resurrection Animals
My first urban nature piece was about an encounter with an opossum in my backyard with my toddler. We peered at one another for a long time through the window of our patio door. No one really knew what to make of the other. The encounter was suppose to tell a story about the about the opossum…
Squirrels as Spiritual Icons
A warm welcome to photographer/theologian Thomas Jay Oord. Thank you for your guest post! As far as I know, no scripture or great piece of spiritual literature praises the squirrel. We find references to foxes, eagles, snakes, and locusts. Judah is a lion. Doves are harmless. Sparrows have value, even though not much. But nothing…
Dog Days of Winter
Dog days are suppose to be reserved for the summer, but I feel them in my heart in the gray, windy, last gasps of Midwestern winter. Dog days of winter. When the wind still bites at the tips of noses and fingers. Before the sun has returned in glory to the sky. Before the warmth…
Wild Sparrows 