To quote Pádraig’s final words in the poem “The Facts of Life”:

“… you might as well live

and you might as well love.”

P.S. Swipe for hotel mural. A sign for Super Bowl Sunday?

- Tyler Sit making a clear case that (1) MN is amazing; (2) ICE is brutal; (3) God is good.
- Sophie Callahan and Peter Choi on what it might mean for us to stay and to go.

Grateful for a refueling, refreshing, resistance- and resilience-building time (including with other friends in SF!).

- Megan Pardue on starting close to home, reminding us that Jesus is always calling us to what is small: one coin, a mustard seed, a sheep, yeast.
- @revadriene.bsky.social with a commission to commit to small miracles every day, everywhere we go.

It was a joy to see old friends and meet new ones, and to hear from pastors and practitioners of faith in action:
- Gail Song Bantum on fractal imagination: “the work of the whole isn’t just dependent on you. But it also can’t happen without you.”

It took this long to be in the same place again, where he drew from his (and theologian Glenn Jordan’s) book Borders & Belonging: The Book of Ruth: A Story for Our Times, at Faith & Justice Network's gathering Future of Faith: Belonging in a World of Borders.

This event is co-hosted by Christ City Church, Table Church, and Washington Community Fellowship; it’s free but RSVPs are requested: go.christcitydc.org/katarmas.

She’ll also be preaching at Christ City on Sunday, 1/18, at 10:30am (Miner Elementary, 601 15th St NE).

#dcchurch #dmvchurch

May we reject the death-dealing ways of fear, lies, and domination, and instead follow with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength the way of Jesus, which seeks truth, humility, justice, and flourishing for all.

Obedience to God didn’t make their lives easier—it made them less efficient and more vulnerable. Encountering God doesn’t just change what we believe. It changes the paths we refuse to walk—and the paths we choose instead.

In Matthew’s Gospel, the Magi were “warned in a dream not to return to Herod.” So they went home by another route. A different way. It wasn’t just a scenic detour. It was a costly decision. It meant a longer road, more expense and exposure, less protection—risking the wrath of the king.

The story of Herod and the Magi is instructive. Rulers who want to consolidate their power are often quite comfortable with not telling the truth and, even worse, quite comfortable with others paying the price for them to stay in power.

We do not condone violence—even when it is justified as necessary, strategic, or deserved.

At Christ City, we believe that every single person is made in the image of God and worthy of dignity and respect. We believe that our highest calling is to love God and to love our neighbors—even and most challengingly, our enemies. Because that is what Jesus said, and we are Jesus-followers.

As I said on Sunday at Christ City, as I try to remind myself: in God’s kingdom, power looks different. It is not about domination, but generosity. Not extraction, but care. Not spectacle and spin, but service and faithfulness and integrity.

January 6 is the Christian feast of #Epiphany, when we remember the Magi from the East following a star and finding King Jesus. It is a day we remember a ruler’s desperate but devastating attempt to stay in control.