yesterday, i got back from the jesus radicals conference in minneapolis. the weekend was packed with information and conversations that were urgent and mind-bending. amaryah, who rode up from atlanta with kirsten and i, co-led a session at the event called sexuality, spirituality and christian-radicalism. her take on the intersections of orthodoxy and queerness blew folks out of the water. ched myers (if you haven’t read this guy’s work you’re cheating yourself) spoke on watershed discipleship and our obligation to save spaces we love. other sessions explored the topics of anarchy, the prison industrial complex, education, bio-regionalism, surveillance, and the ever-expanding problem of robotic weaponry. these topics are always interesting but they take on a new dimension when considered through the lens of the gospels. in light of the current national discussion about who deserves government services and who should have to pay taxes, it was refreshing to hear christians say unequivocally that democracy and capitalism aren’t and can’t be christian institutions.

on monday, kirsten flew from minneapolis to boston to spend time with her parents and her grandmother, nancy smith, who just completed a six month sentence for crossing the line at the school of the americas protest last year. nancy is the jam! may we all be stirred to the kind of subversive action this woman dared to engage in at the age of seventy-eight.

(i can’t find any information about the above image so i don’t know who to credit  for this absurd and very popular nationalistic revisioning of jesus)

kirsten and i will be heading to jesus radical’s beyond a brave new world conference in minneapolis on the 27th. expect a full report! to learn more about the conference or to read theological writing that’ll make you say “hell yeah!”, check out their website:http://www.jesusradicals.com/