“The language of feasting is often the language of the church,” the Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney said to open her third and final Sprunt Lecture Tuesday in Watts Chapel at Union Presbyterian Seminary. “The expectation in Black church culture is you go to church to be fed to do the work you’re called to do.”
Do you ever get irritated when reading genealogies in the Bible? All that “so-and-so begat so-and-so…”. Yet, genealogies hold deep meaning for us if we consider them closely. This is especially true for the genealogy in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.
There were tears in her eyes, as I’d expected there might be, and also an expression that seemed to say, “Thank you,” as her gaze met mine. Thank you for giving voice to the pain and injustice, for naming the complicity. Thank you for seeing me.
Do you ever get irritated when reading genealogies in the Bible? All that “so-and-so begat so-and-so…” Most of the time, we just skip over these lists of unpronounceable names to get to the good parts that really matter. Yet, genealogies hold deep meaning for us if we pause a moment and consider them closely. This is especially true for the genealogy in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.
