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** Reckoning with “Whiteness”
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Last week the Century held its annual lecture in Chicago, and those of us present were blessed to hear a riveting talk by theologian Willie James Jennings ([link removed]) . Jennings, whose work has changed the trajectory of my faith and ministry, chose a rather provocative title for his speech—Curing Whiteness. I see why, without any context, this phrase might cause some of my fellow White folks to bristle.

Jennings encouraged us to differentiate Whiteness as a social construct from our personal identities as White people, just as Black people have long had to separate their self-identities from prevailing ideas about Blackness. While we don’t have a recording of the lecture, we do have a brand new essay from Kelly Brown Douglas ([link removed]) . She draws on the work of James Baldwin as she notes the ways Whiteness holds captive White and Black people alike. We also have a piece that directly engages with Jennings’s theology: Lars Åkerson’s fascinating mapping of his city’s “moral geography.” ([link removed])

Our video of the week is unique. I am technically in the video, but I step aside and let CC online columnist Mac Loftin interview scholar Hannah Strømmen about her area of expertise—the ways far-right politicians use the Bible ([link removed]) . Scroll down for even more great new content, including a reflection on bad biblical leaders like Jonah ([link removed]) , a poem about moth holes in our memory ([link removed]) , and more.

Jon Mathieu
Email me (mailto:[email protected]?subject=A%20helpful%20writer%20on%20race&body=Jon%2C%20) : Which writer has most helped you think about race?
(Lunchtime chats temporarily disabled during travel season!)
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** Freedom and the price of the ticket ([link removed])
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“James Baldwin calls on White Americans to ‘do their first works over’—to return not with nostalgia but with moral reckoning.”

by Kelly Brown Douglas
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** Mapping my city’s moral geography ([link removed])
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“If we’re willing to dream new dreams together, there are tools we can learn to use to refashion the places we live into places of shared thriving.”

by Lars Åkerson
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** VIDEO: How far-right leaders use the Bible ([link removed])
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Mac Loftin and Hannah Strømmen discuss how politicians use the Bible in Europe and the US—and how we might interrogate the types of Bible assemblages they use.
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** In the Lectionary for October 5 (Ordinary 27C) ([link removed])
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The spirit is willing, but the inner horticulturist is weak.
by MaryAnn McKibben Dana

Ordinary 27C 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]) .


** Terrible leaders of the Bible ([link removed])
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“It has never been easy for long-established, entrenched communities to open their doors to strangers and foreigners. It shouldn’t be surprising to us that the crux of Jonah’s complaint lies in the possibility of God’s grace extending to a foreign city like Nineveh.”

by Peter Choi


** Moth Hole ([link removed])
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“Your memory, an intellect
with a moth hole. You didn’t
know, until it left you, shocked.”

poem by Luci Shaw

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