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We asked readers to write in with their perspective on violence and racism. We received many meaningful, intelligent, and thoughtful responses. Here are some of them!

Those who forgave the deadly, racist shooter in the Charleston church were as Christ to me. Their grace exposed the racism of those who held onto the confederate flag as a way of life. Their grace transformed parts of the country that seemed irredeemable.

Whatever our beliefs may be or holiday meals that we celebrate, I hope that these “transfaith” blessings may help to nurture focus and gratitude.

There is a problem in the black church. It is a problem with black bodies and a blues problem. This book addresses these problems head-on. It proclaims that as long as the black church cannot be a home for certain bodies, such as LGBT bodies, then it has forsaken its very black faith identity. The black church must find a way back to itself. Kelly Brown Douglas argues that the way back is through the blues.

Once upon an element, a man named Intelligence questioned his own relevance
While his new old friend Wisdom offered his benevolence
You could tell, It was evident, the 2 were a little hesitant
Because their respect and reverence for each other was obviously heaven sent
That’s when Intelligence asked, well why do we Hate
Wisdoms rebuttal
well why do we Love…

Blending the worlds of folk, soul, and reggae, Buckman Coe is a passionate believer in the power of music to build bridges between people and communities. He is a force of positive inspiration in his own right, using his voice to bring beauty and optimism into the world.

“Forgiving and being reconciled to our enemies or our loved ones are not about pretending that things are other than they are. It is not about patting one another on the back and turning a blind eye to the wrong. True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, the truth. It could even sometimes make things worse. It is a risky undertaking but in the end it is worthwhile, because in the end only an honest confrontation with reality can bring real healing. Superficial reconciliation can bring only superficial healing.” —Desmond Tutu

Race was the elephant in the room when Black People were counted, without embarrassment or shame, as “3/5 of a human being” in our Constitution. Race dominated the admission of new states into the Union in the 19th century, so that the balance of power would never tilt against slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation issued in the midst of the Civil War, served to harden the lines of resistance. When the Confederate forces were finally defeated in 1865, Southern resistance did not end, it just went underground. Hooded Ku Klux Klansmen became the successors to the Army of Northern Virginia. Lynching, economic oppression and political powerlessness became racism’s tools, and black subjugation became racism’s goal.

When we go to war, we put the children of the poor into uniforms, arm them, and ship them abroad to kill the children of the poor in a distant land. Sure, there are tyrants and illegitimate, violent governments all over the world (many of whom are our closest allies) but as Howard Zinn pointed out, our modern wars always make things worse. We have to find other ways to solve international crises. Our nation should be smarter and our communities of faith should be more conscientious. Being strong and rich does not mean that we are a great nation. Being morally good and diplomatically intelligent…. That would make us great!

I challenge you to set the goal for yourself. What would happen if you could be the kindest person anyone had ever met? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Wouldn’t that be great if people said about you, “He/she is the kindest person I know.”

Liberty and Freedom: People – especially politicians, it seems – frequently use the two terms interchangeably, as if they were the same thing. But while civil liberties can be legislated and personal freedoms can be infringed upon, there is something autonomous about personal choices and actions that can never ultimately be denied or encumbered. “Freedom is not something that anybody can be given,” the late author and civil rights activist, James Baldwin, once said. “Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be.”

An earlier commentary considered the two ideas of conscience and consciousness as a spiritual component and practice of human experience. These comments are written as we approach our nation’s annual observance of the Independence Day holiday; exploring what might constitute a progressive Christian perspective of a kind of liberating “freedom” that is comprised of loosing the bonds of all the little deaths we die, and binding oneself to that which can irrepressibly spring once more to life.

When the crazy thing happens and you fall into the ‘proverbial toilet,’ do you laugh or do you get upset? I find with a lot of us that if it is something of huge magnitude, we’ll laugh. But if it is something small, we’ll get annoyed.

Covenant, the promise that humans, especially those who understand our mortality, receive from the Eternal One. Co-creation, the promise that our thoughts, decisions and actions during the regular course of the day matter. We either choose to be aligned in the ways of Spirit or we choose not to be. Sometimes our awareness of what we are choosing is conscious and sometimes it is not. When our choices are aligned in Spirit’s ways, we bring about God’s kin’dom, which is something of great value to earth.

How many times have we circled this fire, a prayer upon our lips?
How many times have we gone to the water’s edge to give thanks for these gifts?
And we will rise again, we will rise again. My people will rise again, We’ll rise.
So many times I’ve looked out across the ocean,
wondered what is it all for?

Panel discussion between Eckhart Tolle, Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu & the authors of “Educating the Heart and Mind-Creativity”

If you look into a chrysalis, what you discover is an empty tomb. The caterpillar is gone; not resuscitated, but resurrected. Now lives a butterfly.

Yes, we all will one day die; but not even death can bury the love and peace we have shared. Our acts of kindness, strivings for justice, and practices of compassion are the eternal verities that give our life meaning and purpose, and will put our death in the context of a life that cannot be denied.

Astonished, with the pain of Good Friday lingering in our consciousness, we awake to a new day of hopes and miracles.