Could an outpost of a just, equitable and sustainable economy be created on religious property in a gentrifying #Charlotte neighborhood? All things are possible in Optimist Park. Join me for conversations in the neighborhood May 19 and 20.

Critique and creation. deseret.com/faith/2022/6/3…

For the last-minute preacher: Today’s #lectionary texts illustrate the existential dilemma: the burden of choice, even amid miracle. No belief, moral principle, or political position frees one from choosing.

“In the Statue [of Liberty] we see a country struggling to admit to itself that it has fallen short of its ideals.” — Col. Yevgeny Vindman nytimes.com/2022/07/04/opi…

“(E)very step along the way something profoundly real was happening. It was very concrete, very human, very much of this world, but I kept sensing too that somewhere in the thick of it the kingdom itself was glimmering through.” — Frederick Buechner christiancentury.org/article/reflec…

For the last-minute #lectionary preacher: The religious leader is right that six days are for work (Lk 13:14) — the world needs work (Is 58:12) — but wrong about ceasing on the Sabbath, for this day is made holy as the self finds work’s end and beginning in serving others.

For the last-minute #lectionary preacher: These are healthy directions. Work for the well-being of the place where you live (Jer 29:7). Make joyful noise, especially when it makes no sense given your circumstances (Ps 66:1). Trust your longing. Rise and go your way (Luke 17:19).

Eloise Sheats looks at an empty wing of Macedonia United Methodist Church in Cary, NC — and she sees the possibility of social impact. Her congregation will clarify the vision through the Church & Community Placemaking Lab, sponsored by @OrmondCenter in partnership with Sympara.

For the last-minute #lectionary preacher: “Restore us” is the people’s plea (Ps 80). “God with us” is the reply — not a panacea but a presence, not a solution but a story, an abiding story. “And they shall name him Immanuel” (Mt 1:23).

“It will add a very positive story in a very negative time about how Americans can work together, even if they come from very different backgrounds.” — Dorothy Canter, Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools National Historic Park Campaign Yonat Shimron religionnews.com/2022/12/08/a-p…

sympara.org/post/as-congre…

“God didn’t give you the ability to throw a baseball like he did to me, and he gave you a gift that I can’t do nothing with!” — The Rev. William H. Greason; story by Louie Lazar nytimes.com/2023/06/04/spo…

“Three reformers, all women, were messing with the gravity of things.” Mark Arax reports on a new movement fighting the powers that be in the San Joaquin Valley. nytimes.com/2023/06/01/mag…

These Masters mile times could be read as age-defying achievements. Or they are the gifts of age: self-awareness, discipline, fortitude, resilience, and the energy of history applied in the moment. usatf.org/news/2023/2023…