Mr. Locke’s Classroom

This is part one in a three-part series on border/immigration issues written for my summer internship work with Pasos De Fe.  For more information, please read the introduction. Who Is My Neighbor? There is little doubt in my mind that the parable of the Good Samaritan, which Jesus gives in Luke 10:25-37 as an answer [...]

Although I grew up in El Paso and Mexico was (quite literally) a stone’s throw from my house, I never really connected much with Mexican culture or the issues (like immigration) that are an inherent part of living and working in a border community.  So for my internship this summer at 1st Presbyterian Church in [...]

At this summer’s PC(USA) General Assembly, I was frequently asked the question “What church do you belong to?” This question always gave me some pause, and I’m not sure I ever figured out the best way to answer, other than saying “Which one?” At the moment, I belong to four different church communities with varying [...]

(Also posted at Sacred Space in Cyberspace) PREFACE In a time of deep cultural change, the church has both great opportunity and great responsibility.  It is propelled into the future by its mission, while connected to the past by traditions, teachings, and writings stretching back to the beginnings of our faith.  It is often tempting [...]

Needless to say, last week was an interesting week. Admittedly, calling people assholes is not the best way to start a conversation, but for better or worse, I did have a lot of conversations last week: With PhD students, with fellow MDiv students, with former students, faculty members, staff members, bloggers, anonymous emailers and letter [...]

Well, we’ve survived a week here in Princeton, and it hasn’t even seemed that difficult (yet).  Of course, Summer Greek hasn’t started yet, tuition bills and grocery bills and other bills haven’t found their way to our new address yet, and we haven’t really looked inside all the boxes stacked against the walls yet.  Still, [...]

This time it’s not about me. It’s all about Jesus. To be specific, Jesus Gauna Trejo, who lives in Cadereyta, Nuevo León, México and sells Tacos to support his his three kids (he’s a single Dad). He needs money to renovate his Taco stand, so I loaned him $75 through Kiva.org (he still needs $800 [...]