Since Friday, I was mostly off-line -- I was leading a retreat at Ghost Ranch, NM. This was the view I woke up to: I'd make some sort of snarky comment like, "What did I miss?"

But I know what I missed. Just enough wifi to hear some of the news.

Well, it is #SundayMorning and the lectionary readings again preach themselves. For those of you who don't know what a lectionary is, it is an assigned 3 yr cycle of readings for churches -- prepped long ago.

The text for this week is the story of Esther. About a woman -- in this case, the Queen -- who stands up against male authorities and insists on justice.

(Yeah, you can't make these things up.)

I don't expect much out of Jerry Falwell, but this one leaves me nearly speechless.

There is NOTHING here that remotely resembles Christianity.

https://twitter.com/JerryFalwellJr/status/1045853333007798272

There is no ethical position in political theology EVER in church history that supports these words.

Dear Sen .@JeffFlake:
I grew up in Scottsdale, graduating from Saguaro HS in 1977. During 1976-77, I was Chairperson of AZ Teenage Republicans and was Teenage Republican of the Year. I even have a letter from Sen Goldwater thanking me for my energy and passion for the Republican party in Arizona.

Whew.

I realized something today I'd never realized before.

I've written about my own #MeToo that happened when I was 14. For years after, I was terrified of flying. It never occurred to me that there could have been a connection between the two things.

I'm so grateful for @KaitlinCurtice -- brave warrior loving woman. I'm so grateful for @GlennonDoyle -- honest, funny, justice storyteller.

This stunt of Grassley's is typical. Dr Ford was ready to jump in. You could tell she was feeling confident and powerful. He's using his time to whittle that away and frame the whole day with his false narrative. I've had that happen to me -- by a Dean and a department chair. It is a stall and undermine process, purposefully done to reassert the power of the privileged persons and undo the less powerful person.

This morning, I'm thinking about something that happened to me when I was in high school.

No. Not physical violence or assault. But something that happened in Bible study at church. The Bible study was co-ed. Boys and girls together would listen to a teaching from the youth pastor.

Question: How many times will Kavanaugh mention God tomorrow? Claim a religious conversion?

The "cultural moment" isn't #MeToo but the threat to powerful men. That's what the POTUS just said.

The New Testament reading from today's lectionary preaches itself -- and it offers wisdom for all to live these difficult days. James 3:13-4:2. #SundayMorning The passage begins with a question:

"Who is wise and understanding among you?"

Today is #WorldGratitudeDay. Take some time today for reflection. Gratefulness is about our emotions -- what we feel -- and our ethics -- how we choose to act in relation to those emotions. You feel something when you receive a gift. It may be a gift from a friend, a gift of good news, or a gift of nature. Gifts make us catch our breath: feel surprise, relief, joy, and make us aware of the grace of receiving. Gratitude comprises all these feelings.

If you are one of the millions who have said #Metoo, the Kavanaugh story may hurt, you may feel a sense of trauma, sadness, depression, or memories of your own experience. This is a normal response. Your feelings are important, they show your own tenderness, your beautiful humanity.

I love today's lectionary readings -- which contrast foolishness and wisdom. From the book James, we get this warning about thoughtless speech: "How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.... /2

Today, remember all who have died directly as a result of 9/11--the victims, the rescue workers, the aid workers, the soldiers, the political and religious leaders, the farmers and workers and shop owners, the families, the women and children, the innocent, the anguished. 1/ Christians, Muslims, and Jews of all sorts; every other faith; secular people and humanists. 2/

Curious about who was the 3rd Congressman to support Trump? (Chris Collins was 1st; Duncan Hunter Jr 2nd). It was this guy: politico.com/magazine/story… If you count senators, Jeff Sessions was actually third. But if you are counting members of the House, then DesJarais gets the bronze.

grist.org/article/the-wo… Creator God,
breath and source of life,
in love you called the world into being
and in grace you made us and call us your children.
We stand in awe of the wonder of your creation:
its beauty and wildness;
complexity and power;
resilience and fragility. 1/

On tape talking about "using" two pastors -- Scott and Burns. "Using" religion to cover up affairs with women. That's what Trump thinks of religion -- a tool to "use" in the pursuit of his own power. If you are a Christian and voted for Trump, know that he is using you, too. It isn't about you. It isn't about God. It isn't about a moral America. It is about Trump. Period. He's using you and your faith.

When you read this article about church people for Trump, please know there are millions of Protestants (like myself) who grew up in churches w/ similar attitudes and have repented of them, embraced theologies of love, and read the Bible toward justice: washingtonpost.com/news/national/… Protestantism is a varied thing in America -- it comes in many colors, theological forms, ethnic traditions, and liturgical shapes. This is a picture of ONE form -- a sort that many American Protestants have systematically argued with and overtly rejected.

If you watched the Trump-Putin press conference, please breathe. Take a moment. Think of all the good people who see thru the lies. Say "thank you" for them. Feel the power of gratitude, however briefly. That many millions of us are appalled, outraged, grieved. Those emotions are the logical, sane human response to what we just saw.

Yesterday at #WildGoose2018 was incredible: 1) I shared on the main stage about the radical practice of gratitude -- and how if we read the Easter story through the lens of gratefulness, Maundy Thursday -- not Good Friday -- becomes the most significant event of justice and eschatology.