he schism the United Methodist Church has been enduring the last few years, culminating in this Spring’s General Conference in North Carolina, is also a direct result of unresolved Civil War era prejudices.
Today, I want to talk about one of my modern-day heroes, Alok V. Menon, known as ALOK. ALOK (they/them) is an internationally acclaimed poet, comedian, public speaker, and actor. I’ll add prophet. ALOK speaks brave truth to power and firmly holds themself in compassion and love.
The Bible is replete with stories of various gender identities in God’s people. These biblical stories affirm that we all are wonderfully made and affirm our God-given right to live them out loud.
“We belong to each other,” as indigenous teachers have said. So, how do we create a bigger table with every voice in mind and make sure every one is there when we start to wrestle with solutions?
As I read the first Creation story and put it in conversation with the big bang theory, there is a message that comes through loudly: Creation comes from unbinding everything in order to give it meaning. I would go as far as to say the best, most remarkable creations always do just that, unbind things, breakdown barriers and boundaries.