Kyrie eleison.

"Listening is where love begins: listening to ourselves and then to our neighbors.” ~Fred Rogers

If I lived in Texas, I would place my vote for James Talarico. He’s so impressive and exactly the kind of public servant this country needs. @jamestalarico

Cover of The Lancet: @thelancet.com www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

"Christofascism "knows the cross only as a magical symbol of what Jesus has done for us, not as a sign of the poor man who was tortured to death as a political criminal... [it is] a betrayal of the disappointed, a miracle weapon in the service of the mighty." ~Dorothee Sölle (1929-2003)

"Christofascism "knows the cross only as a magical symbol of what Jesus has done for us, not as a sign of the poor man who was tortured to death as a political criminal... [it is] a betrayal of the disappointed, a miracle weapon in the service of the mighty." — Dorothee Sölle

This piece will make some uncomfortable, but it needs to be said. "If you read the Gospels without the benefit of centuries of wealthy-donor influence on scriptural interpretation, Jesus is alarmingly clear about money." substack.com/@kennethkova...

Traveling the road to freedom, who wants to travel the road with me? Tipping the scales of justice, setting both minds and captives free; ... traveling the road to freedom, who wants to travel the road with me? ~John Bell (The Iona Community) catonsvillepres.org/sermons/free...

Empathy stands as a firewall against bigotry. But it’s more than that — it can also free you from bigotry. Understanding another person’s experience (and imagining if it happened to you) softens our hearts and creates human connection. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/o...

WashPost finally covered Doug Wilson preaching at Pentagon (www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...), but piece is by political reporter instead of religion one (& they have great one) so they missed lots of important parts (which I pointed out yesterday: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/doug-wilso...)

EXCLUSIVE: ~400 Christian leaders have issued an Ash Wednesday statement decrying the Trump admin as "cruel and oppressive," arguing the govt has been corrupted by an aberrant form of the faith and calling on Christians to perform "greater acts of courage to resist." religionnews.com/2026/02/18/4...

Signed - religionnews.com/2026/02/18/4...

BREAKING: #CBS bans interview w/ @jamestalarico.bsky.social, who highlights the threat of Christian nationalism, @colbertlateshow.bsky.social. "We were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers... that we could not have him on the broadcast," Colbert said. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTJ...

It's worth watching the Colbert interview with @jamestalarico.bsky.social that CBS/FCC doesn't want you to see. Talarico offers strong defense of church-state separation & a critique of #ChristianNationalism. Nice to see such comments getting more attention today. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTJ...

Here's what CBS and the FCC didn't want us to see.

"The Baltimore County Council will convene an emergency session Tuesday to consider legislation to ban private persons, corporations, property owners or third-party contractors from gaining permits to operate detention centers in the county...." www.wbaltv.com/article/balt...

Love the art and iconography inspired by Jesus’ transfiguration. This work is by Lewis Bowman.

“It is the property of light to shine," Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote to his students at the underground seminary of the Confessing Church. "A community of Jesus which seeks to hide itself," he said, "has ceased to follow him.” (The Cost of Discipleship, 1937). So let us shine. Shine, you salty saints.

Trump goes full racist during Black History Month, refuses to apologize. What the research says about why this matters. www.whitetoolong.net/p/trump-goes...

Nothing says prayer breakfast like concentration camps

Compassion is the basis for morality. ~Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Communion by Rob Hardy

On following Jesus into God's empire, the place of human flourishing. substack.com/@kennethkova...

Following Jesus into God's empire. kennethkovacs.substack.com/p/summoned

Join me on the way. My Substack is a place to share thought pieces, raise questions, and share interesting quotes at the intersection of Christian faith and depth psychology, bridging head and heart. substack.com/@kennethkovacs

Following Jesus into God's empire. open.substack.com/pub/kennethk...

Compassion is the basis for morality. ~Arthur Schopenhauer

For the Feast Day of St Brigid.

Today is Thomas Merton’s birthday, born January 31, 1915. Insistent that we see the image of God in everyone, I am sure he would have some piercing words to share with us today.

Catherine O’Hara, who died today at age 71, played a host of flamboyant, theatrically extreme characters. But the comedian’s true brilliance “came from her ability to unearth the oddball in anybody,” writes Shirley Li: theatln.tc/B8I6GB1m

In a blistering ruling, a Bush-appointed conservative federal judge said that ICE "has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence." Congress must not give one more cent to this rogue agency.

To win a crowd is no art; for that only untruth is needed, nonsense, and a little knowledge of human passions. But no witness to the truth dares to get involved with the crowd. ~ Soren Kierkegaard

An American Baptist church is 1 block from where Alex Pretti was executed. They're passing out coffee & opened building to people visiting memorial. They had to hold their Sunday service elsewhere & it was powerful joint service with another American Baptist church: wordandway.org/2026/01/26/a...

Happy Birthday, Rabbie Burns! 'Then let us pray that come it may, As come it will for a' that, That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth. … That man to man, the warld o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that.' ~"For a' That and a' That," 1794

Breaking NYT: The FBI agent who sought to investigate the federal immigration officer who fatally shot Renee Good has resigned from the bureau, according to two people familiar with the matter, after leadership pressured her to discontinue a civil rights inquiry into the officer.