The debate and controversy over Mariann Budde’s inaugural sermon rages on. My social media blew up from the Substack article I wrote. A few things I’ve noticed:'

- Many people who are condemning Budde and her sermon have not actually heard or read her words in their entirety

- Too many people cannot look past their political allegiances to see the universal applicability of Budde’s message

- People expected too much from her 14-minute homily for a specific occasion, and feel slighted that she did not speak out on other issues

The article I published includes:

• the transcript of Mariann Budde’s inaugural address

• if we only heard a plea to President Trump in Budde’s sermon, we might not have been listening deep enough

• what we all can learn from a Jersey Episcopal Bishop about a spirituality for the real world

• why theology can never offer an honest accounting of the lived human experience

• why hurling clickbait missiles of political-hate into cyberspace isn’t progressive

• “love” is a weak, naïve, idealistic, impractical response to the current political moment… or is it

• remembering King, Solzhenitsyn, Dostoevsky, and the guy holding the profane sign

You can read the article in its entirety here → shorturl.at/7c6bu