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** Current events with a lens of hope
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There are a few refrains I’ve been hearing a lot lately: I’ve been cutting back on social media. No more doomscrolling. I just can’t look at all the headlines.
I get it—and I’ve been cutting back quite a bit on the 24-hour news cycle myself. But at the same time, I want to stay informed. As terrible as many recent appointments and policies have been, they seem like things I should know about. How do we stay informed without falling into despair? I don’t have a silver bullet solution, but I’m grateful for CC articles that thoughtfully engage pressing issues with faith and resolve. This week, for instance, Mac Loftin considers what the parable of the Good Samaritan (as read by Dietrich Bonhoeffer) might have to say to J. D. Vance ([link removed]) . And Michael Woolf describes the impact of an executive order about people seeking sanctuary in houses of worship ([link removed]) .
It’s a Michael Woolf double feature, because he also joins me in our video of the week for a deeper dive into the church sanctuary movement ([link removed]) . Plus extra new content below, including an essay about the possibilities of church camp ([link removed]) , a column about some Christians’ addiction to revenge ([link removed]) , and more.
Jon Mathieu
Email me (mailto:
[email protected]?subject=News%20without%20despair&body=Jon%2C%20) : How do you stay informed without despairing?
Click to schedule ([link removed]) a Friday lunch chat with Jon
Click to find Jon ([link removed]) on (X/Twitter alternative) Bluesky
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** J. D. Vance, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and the parable of the Good Samaritan ([link removed])
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“Bonhoeffer presciently describes just the kind of noxious sophistry J. D. Vance and his allies deploy in their use of the ordo amoris. His call to care for the despised and excluded remains just as urgent today.”
by Mac Loftin
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** Sanctuary in houses of worship has always been tenuous ([link removed])
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“Despite its long history, sanctuary enjoys few legal protections. There is no law that says religious spaces are in any way different from your local Starbucks. However, the federal government has long been loath to interfere in such spaces due to the First Amendment.”
by Michael Woolf
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** VIDEO: The movement of churches providing sanctuary for immigrants ([link removed])
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Pastor and sanctuary expert Michael Woolf joins Jon to discuss Trump’s executive order, the sanctuary movement, and more.
** In the Lectionary for March 2 (Transfiguration C) ([link removed])
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Peter, James, and John are all of us.
by Celeste Kennel-Shank
Transfiguration C archives ([link removed])
Get even more lectionary resources with Sunday’s Coming Premium, an email newsletter from the editors of the Christian Century. Learn more ([link removed]) .
** Kindled in the wild ([link removed])
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“What conversations about scripture, prayer, and faith that start at camp could families continue back home? In what ways could camps support parents and grandparents in partnering with their youngsters in faith formation throughout the year?”
by Meggan Manlove
** A dish best not served ([link removed])
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“Of particular interest to Christians, one would think, is the resurrected Lord returning to his communities not to make his killers pay but to offer them yet more love. Evidently, many find this magnanimity uncompelling, right alongside Jesus’ admonition to resist an eye-for-an-eye approach to life.”
by Peter W. Marty
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