by jakeowensby | Jan 15, 2021 | John 1:43-51
“Before the truth sets you free, it tends to make you miserable.” This is Richard Rohr’s amplification of Jesus’s famous teaching: the truth will set you free. (Falling Upward, p. 74; John 8:32) What I take Rohr—and more basically Jesus—to be saying is something like...
by jakeowensby | Jan 8, 2021 | Mark 1:4-11
People change, whether we like it or not. We grow or we decay. We move toward our true self or we betray it. That goes for individuals as well as communities. And an indispensable part of becoming who we aspire to be is facing who we actually are. That’s one of the...
by jakeowensby | Jun 19, 2020 | Matthew 10:24-39
Love is powerful. And complicated. And messy. In the British crime series “River,” Detective John River puts it this way: “There should be more than one word for love. I’ve seen love that kills, and I’ve seen love that redeems. I’ve seen love that...
by jakeowensby | Jun 12, 2020 | Matthew 9:35-10:8
People tell me they’re tired. This epidemic is exhausting. It’s gone on for so long, and they are ready for it to be over. Four hundred years, for crying out loud! Oh! You thought I meant the COVID pandemic. Yeah, that one wears me out, too. But I’m talking about...
by jakeowensby | Jun 9, 2020 | Uncategorized
This is an excerpt from a talk given by my friend and colleague The Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Bishop of the Diocese of Indianapolis. It is reprinted here with permission. The full article is found here. I’m not an expert on dismantling systemic racism and...