Essay

I was deeply moved by this simple gesture. The students and Amanda thought nothing of it. They did it naturally, instinctively. I realized that we were learning much more than the meaning of the Hebrew verbs, a’lu and ridu; we were learning to be attentive to one another and to share in each other’s learning. It was a sacramental moment, a foreshadowing of the community that Jesus has called us to be, a community in which the barriers dividing people…

If God is totally in control, then the child-like part of my heart can sit back and relax. God’s got this, after all. I don’t have to be responsible, I don’t have to face consequences, and I can avoid the painful feelings of grief and sadness.

For too long, Christians have defended their positions with the simple assertion that this or that is “biblical.” Conversations descend into a flurry of dueling proof texts as different sides mobilize the texts that best support their position, glossing over or even ignoring texts that muddy the waters.

Can we keep growing in life in substantial ways? Can a nation keep growing? Can confronting the ugliness of our injustice lead us somewhere new? I don’t know. Laymon shows that the scrutiny, the tough-minded examined life, is worthwhile in itself.

We must do something, because trusting teachers and nurturing trust in the classroom is vital to the survival of real education. This is especially critical in Christian communities, where our concerns for building bridges of love between people is our godly calling.

Christians of varying ideological leanings are likely to process very differently the new judicial era of Supreme Court consensus around religion and the First Amendment. Notwithstanding such differences, three distinct and important shifts characterize this consensus that should give us a common foundation to inform our conversation. These developments also raise real concerns that should give pause to all Christians, whatever their partisan or political leanings. 

Adding to the conservative tenor of the term were a trio of cases dealing with the 1st amendment religion clauses, all of which came down on the side of the pro-religion party. But unlike the decisions on abortion, guns, and administrative power, all of which marked a major shift in constitutional jurisprudence, the religion cases were in line with, and even the culmination of, a pro-religion trend that has been building on the Court under Chief Justice Roberts’ tutelage.

I didn’t solve the world’s problems, or the church’s. But maybe, just maybe, not because of me but in spite of me, God used my attempted faithfulness somewhere, somehow, for something bigger than me, beyond my own limited vision; and on that, someone else is building, blossoming, growing. Living out their own calling.