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CSA’s free weekly publication, a carefully curated collection of original articles at the intersection of spiritual formation and social action.
By Kristyn Komarnicki
Love in the midst of discomfort
Love your God, love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets rest on these two commands…
Leap of Faith is a full-length documentary from Nicholas Ma and Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) featuring pastors who commit to meeting for a year to look for a path to unity in the midst of polarized times.
By Kristyn Komarnicki
“The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all [people] human and, therefore, [siblings].”
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The last 12 years of facilitating dialogue across difference through CSA’s Oriented to Love program have taught me many things.
Editor’s note: This piece is part 4 of our 4-part series on the levels of strategy for nonviolent direct action for racial justice. Click here to start at the beginning.
A political miracle for racial justice occurred in Birmingham, Alabama, in the late spring of 1963.
By Liz Cooledge Jenkins
For me, the summer of 2023 feels like the time when the climate crisis finally became impossible to ignore—which may simply mean that the climate crisis has started to impact me personally in more obvious ways.
Editor’s note: This piece is part 3 of our 4-part series on strategic nonviolent direct action for racial justice. Click here to start at the beginning.
“Freedom only comes through persistent revolt — through persistent agitation.”
– Rev.
By Kristyn Komarnicki
As a kid, I was a terrible bully. In 3rd grade, I kidnapped a kid’s blue rock, which he’d brought in for show-and-tell. I left a ransom note that reduced him to a tearful panic, which only made me hate him more.
Editors Note: This piece is part 2 of our 4-part series on strategic nonviolent direct action. Click here for Part 1.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
– Sun Tzu, The Art of War
“Be wise about what is good.
By Misty Irons
Seasoned ministers tell me that preaching and pastoring go hand in hand. You can’t know what to preach to people on Sunday unless you have already spent Monday through Saturday shepherding their hearts.
Editors’ Note: This is part 1 of a 4-part series on the basics of strategy for nonviolent direct action.
So much of our activism is failing for lack of strategy. When it comes to taking to the streets, our protests are often reactive and short-sighted.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:10
You’d never suspect that this short, elderly South African man was once considered a threat to national security.
By Micky ScottBey Jones
After the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012, I was forever changed. Nothing could remain the same—not my mothering, not my relationships, not my faith. I needed more than The Power of a Praying Wife.
By Bridget Eileen Rivera
Originally published Jul 27, 2020
I’ve been thinking a lot about “positions” lately and what it even means to hold a position.
When people ask about my “position” on “homosexuality,” it’s rarely in the interest of broadening their own perspective, understanding my own, or (God forbid) adjusting their beliefs.
By CJ Sullivan
A hundred years ago, social justice was in short supply for unmarried, pregnant girls. They were often sent to a private house or facility until their babies were born. Once they gave birth, the facility pressured them to give up their child for adoption.
By Felicia Melian
Originally published Sep 8, 2022
“I hate Trump,” I blurted out to a friend who was complaining about how emotional politics had become in recent days. We were socially distanced on lawn chairs in my driveway for this conversation, but—despite my best efforts—I could not distance myself emotionally.
By Dorcas Cheng-Tozun
“The real warriors in this world are the ones that see the details of another’s soul.”
~Shannon L. Alder
In the Indo-European cultures of old, there were generally two types of leaders: warrior kings and priestly advisers.
By Sarah Driver
“Sorry kid, life’s not fair.”May we never again say that to a child.Children have a wonderful, natural instinct toward fairness and justice–and so often we caregivers squash it with phrases like that.How we nurture their instincts shapes their ability to discern and do the work of justice.
This series on Hidden Hunger ran in June 2023. Inspired by the work and leadership of Bread for the World and ahead of the Farm Bill vote in September 2023, our hope is to raise awareness about the ways hunger shows up in different communities.
CSA is a group of Christian scholar-activists, stirring the imagination for a fuller expression of Christian faithfulness and a more just society.
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