Category: Essays, Criticism, and Analyses

What Is Blackout Poetry?

To celebrate the upcoming release of my poetry collection Forgive Us Our Trespasses, I’m running a blog post series about it, starting with the most basic question: What the heck is “blackout poetry”? Blackout poetry is a form of poetry where you take a newspaper article, a book, or some other pre-existing material, box off… Continue reading What Is Blackout Poetry?

The City of God is Made of Intersections: Reflections on the ONA Coalition Gathering and General Synod

Intersectionality is growing as the preferred approach to unpack identity and justice. I heard the Church discuss this term much more than I expected during the Open and Affirming Coalition gathering and General Synod. The United Church of Christ’s Open and Affirming (ONA) movement is celebrating 45 years of diligent work to change the Church… Continue reading The City of God is Made of Intersections: Reflections on the ONA Coalition Gathering and General Synod

Legend of Korra: Turf Wars: Balance and Relationship Fragility

Legend of Korra: Turf Wars begins a new spinoff of the Avatar franchise that continues right where the TV series ended. Though the writing is, at times, heavy-handed with its info dumping on the history of homophobia in the Avatarverse (and part of my opinion there may be that I’m above the targeted age range… Continue reading Legend of Korra: Turf Wars: Balance and Relationship Fragility

My Church’s Witness: United Church of Christ Joins #BoycottWendys Movement

Every two years, the United Church of Christ gathers for General Synod, where church members from all over the country come together to worship, learn, complete acts of service and sometimes civil disobedience, and vote on resolutions concerning social justice issues and the church’s operations. This year was my second General Synod and my first… Continue reading My Church’s Witness: United Church of Christ Joins #BoycottWendys Movement

Orange is the New Moral Dilemma: Season 5’s Tensions and Gray Areas

Like everyone else who’s been keeping up with Orange is the New Black, I, in my lack of self-control, marathoned the new season in two days despite having other things to do. After letting my thoughts stew for a bit and discussing some of them on Tumblr, I found myself thinking a lot about this… Continue reading Orange is the New Moral Dilemma: Season 5’s Tensions and Gray Areas

Loving the Enemy and Building Community in My Little Pony and Steven Universe

As I prepared for the sermon I preached at my church several weeks ago, this notion of loving the enemy stayed fresh in my mind and I joked with the youth group that I’d preach about Steven Universe (some of the kids are fans). Both this series and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic have told us redemptive… Continue reading Loving the Enemy and Building Community in My Little Pony and Steven Universe

Movement, Movement, Movement, and Repose: A Sermon

On February 19th, 2017, I had the privilege of preaching at my church. I framed my sermon around the Revised Common Lectionary texts for that week, which included Matthew 5:38-48; 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23; and Psalm 119:1-8. The following is the text of the sermon. So, I read an article a couple months ago about… Continue reading Movement, Movement, Movement, and Repose: A Sermon

Tradition vs. Tech? Saving the Internet and Saving the World in Summer Wars

This is an article I wrote that was originally published on The Ontological Geek. Think pieces about the impend­ing dom­i­nance of tech­nol­o­gy over every aspect of our lives abound on the Internet. Data, gad­gets, online games, and social media are already inte­gral parts of daily life. The con­se­quences of blend­ing the dig­i­tal with the real… Continue reading Tradition vs. Tech? Saving the Internet and Saving the World in Summer Wars

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Fusion: Mysterious Unity in Steven Universe

This is an article I wrote that was originally published on The Ontological Geek. Steven Universe fol­lows Steven and his care­tak­ers Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl as they chill in Beach City, sav­ing the world from mon­sters and aliens who want to destroy Earth. Steven’s guardians are “gems,” an all-female alien race from a plan­et called Homeworld,… Continue reading In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Fusion: Mysterious Unity in Steven Universe