What I’m Reading

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/25536404-grant-swanson

Review of ‘Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview: A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine’ by Dr. Randy Woodley

https://link.growkudos.com/1m8wk8nxxq8

This article I wrote for Wiley Author Services provides a brief summary of Dr. Randy Woodley’s text, ‘Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview: A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine.’ The review can be a helpful resource if you are trying to decide if you want to read this text. Dr. Woodley’s text is helpful if you are curious about the juxtaposition and mutual learnings between Indigenous Theology and a Western Worldview or decolonial approaches to Christian Doctrine.

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My Top 10 Books of 2022

I have completed my Goodreads 60 books in 2022 challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2022?ref=yyib_dec_22_yyib_eml?rto=x_gr_e_nf_yyib22&utm_medium=email&utm_source=yyib&utm_campaign=2022&utm_content=spotlight1&ref_=pe_3496280_680573190

As a result, I wanted to identify my favorite 10 books. Here they are listed in order:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Honorable Mentions

11.

12.

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‘Why Do the Nations Rage? The Demonic Origin of Nationalism’ by David Ritchie Book Review

Why Do the Nations Rage?: The Demonic Origin of Nationalism by David A. Ritchie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“It is crucial for Christians to clearly recognize the distinction between rightly ordered patriotism and idolatrous nationalism; to recognize the difference between gratitude to God for one’s nation and the temptation to worship one’s nation as a god. None of us are above this temptation. Sadly, the people of God have had a long history of looking to political power for salvation. We have a long history of crying out the name of insurrectionist ‘Barrabus!’ instead of the name of the Prince of Peace, who alone has the power to make all things new. The powers are real, and they are greedy for our affection. Yet the exhortation of Joshua 24 still applies to the people of God today. We must put away the gods of our fathers and the gods of the nations. We must choose this day who we will serve” (142).

This book is deeply relevant, contextual, and a must read for the perilous time in which we live in the United States. Ritchie asks the question ALL people who call themselves Christians need to ask: who do we serve/pledge our allegiance? Christ? Or the United States?

‘Why do the Nations Rage? The Demonic Origin of Nationalism’ by David Ritchie is a contextual and relevant unpacking of the idolatrous and demonic power of nationalism, particularly in how it has co-opted a façade of Christianity to justify itself. Ritchie shows that christian nationalism is a paradoxical identity because “nationalism involves the exaltation of a nation (or a particular conception of a nation) to the highest place of allegiance, concern, and devotion, [thus] it is essentially idolatrous” (6). Nationalism cannot be Christian because it is inherently idolatrous. Furthermore, Ritchie shows that while the January 6, 2021 Capitol Riot is a contemporary manifestation of nationalism, nationalism has ancient roots and is generally demonic: “when examined through the lens of biblically demonology, you will discover that there is little distinction between the ancient pagan’s worship of national patron deity and the contemporary nationalist’s tendency to exalt a particular nation to a place of functional divinity” (6). As a result, Ritchie argues that “nationalism-not atheism, not new age spiritualism, nor any other traditional world faith-is the greatest religious rival to the Christian gospel that vies for the worship of [God’s] people….seek[ing] to conquer Christianity, or…to co-opt Christianity for its own purposes” (6).

Ritchie accomplishes this goal through five sections in this book.

The first section carefully describes how the New Testament writings of Paul use the terms ‘powers,’ ‘principalities,’ ‘authorities,’ and other terms to describe “spiritual beings that are personal in nature and exert corporate influence over groups of people….and geographical territories” (9), including ‘nations.’

Ritchie then summarizes these demonic ‘spiritual beings’ under the umbrella term ‘powers’ and explains how these ‘powers’ were the reason why the God of the Old Testament/New Testament condemned ‘pagan nations’ and ‘national patron deities’ in the second section.

In the third section, Ritchie shows that Christ has defeated all demonic forces of evil through his life, death, and resurrection. Thus, Christ has not only defeated our reliance upon the ‘powers,’ but has commanded us to resist these powers. Christians cannot simply ignore or turn a blind eye to the idolatry of nationalism, but we must name, denounce, and resist the evils of nationalism through primacy of devotion to Christ and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit.

In order to accurately name the evils of nationalism today, so that Christians can denounce and resist them, section four describes how nationalism has co-opted a façade of Christianity and created a systematic theology of nationalism” (93). In short, this theology of nationalism primarily “stands against the first commandment and the Christian understanding of God as the one to whom highest praise and devotion belongs…[through] the belief that ‘loyalty to the nation overrides all other loyalties'” (95). Some modern examples include the symbols of “Columbia (or Freedom) as the patron goddess of the United States….flags function[ing] beyond a mere identifying symbol of a nation, and instead having been imbued with sacred significance and accorded ritualistic worship”(97), the pledge of allegiance in schools, national art that uses Christian imagery, ascribing messianic characteristics to politicians, manifest destiny, and ascribing ‘right Christian belief’ to stances, beliefs, and platforms of politicians or political parties. As Ritchie explains, “the term ‘Christian nationalist’ is just as oxymoronic as ‘Yahwist Baal worshiper.’ When Christianity mixes with nationalism, the sum of this syncretism yields only nationalism….For this reason, Christians must have no part in nationalism” (122).

In the fifth and final section, Ritchie provides tangible ways for Christians to resist the demonic powers of nationalism. First, ministry leaders must confront nationalism head-on in their ecclesial spaces (125). Ritchie provides very practical and tangible Christ-centered responses to the pitfalls and lies of nationalism. This was my favorite section of the book and I’d recommend snagging yourself a copy if just for this section alone (although I think all five sections are incredible and a must read)!

Right before the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the rioters stood with defamed Christian images and ‘prayers’ were lifted. I agree with Ritchie when he states, “I felt grieved that images of the name of my Savior were displayed alongside this spectacle of nihilistic division and death” (4). This book, and the commandments from Christ articulated throughout this book, are the urgent call to Christians across our nation, and across the globe, to resist the demonic powers of nationalism and to once again devote our hearts, minds, and actions fully to Christ. Amen!



View all my reviews

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‘After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging’ by Willie James Jennings Book Review

www.goodreads.com/book/show/50376048

“The crowd is itself a destination and not a means to an end. The goal of cultivating those who can gather people centers theological education in its erotic power….Erotic power is, as Rita Nakashima Brock states, ‘the power of our primal interrelatedness’….Erotic power has been drawn in our time into the trajectories of colonial control rooted in whiteness and made malignant through racial segregation that has shaped and continuous to shape so many individuals and communities. Desire rooted in control is disordered desire that inevitably forms social prisons that drain life” (Willie James Jennings 149).

“The distorted erotic power that fuels that works must be freed from its captivity to whiteness and turned back toward its source in divine desire. We can start again. That ‘again’ being a gift from the God who raised Jesus from the dead. Theological education exists in the ‘again.’ This is education that has as its fundamental resource erotic power, and that power finds its home in the divine ecstasy in which God relentlessly gives Godself to us, joyfully opening the divine life as our habitation” (Willie James Jennings 151).

“To be invoked in theological education is to long for eternity and the end of death. It is to seek the blessed state where our words start to do new works by first joining the chorus of the words of those who live forever in the Lord and who sound the healing and redeeming voice of the living God. Then our words will heal. Then our words will build up. Then our words will help form life together. Then our words will give witness to a destiny only visible through love. Talking together then is a practice aimed at eternity, and it matters more than we often realize for bringing our hope into focus. This finally is the goal of this book and the task I want to leave you with — to bring hope into focus” (Willie James Jennings 157).

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Book Review: ‘Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth’ by Randy Woodley

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58495625-becoming-rooted

Keetoowah Band Cherokee activity, author, and theologian Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley has crafted this brilliant 100 day devotional for people to connect with their faith more deeply by finding ways to become more rooted in the Sacred Land from which we came, the Land on which we live, and the Land to which we will return.

Each day starts with a short quote from an important figure to help calm our minds and prepare for the day’s reflection. Next comes a 2-3 page reflection on humanity, the land, and/or the living beings around us and how we can become more deeply connected with all creation. Finally, each day ends with a call to action, further reflection, or meditation. This enables folks to extend the learnings of the day into more rigorous/in-path/tangible ways throughout the day, as they are able. The book is divided into 10 thematic sections with 10 deviations each. It is a wonderful journey of reflection, discovery, and connection.

One of the most powerful outcomes of this book is how I was challenged to connect with my family’s cultural roots in deeper and more intentional ways through history, food, and cultural practices. Not only is this important for my own growth and learning as a vital part of my family, but also to challenge the pitfalls of white supremacy that force white folks to give up all cultural specificity for the privileges of supremacy and uniformness. As a result, this intentional work is vital for white folks to regain specificity, resist the uniformness of white supremacy, and learn how to be solidarity conspirators with our non-white siblings and all of creation.

This book is a powerful meditative tool for personal growth and reflection that leads to tangible communal outcomes and solidarity. Invest in this journey or reconnection with Sacred Earth today!
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Book Review: ‘The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation’ by Richard Rohr, with Mike Morrell

My Goodreads review of The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation by Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell; My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started this book not knowing what to expect and was thrilled to find myself deeply transformed by it.

For me, this text accomplishes three important goals:
1. It provides a contemporary, contextual, and relevant depiction of trinitarian theology and why the Holy Trinity is so important.
2. It calls out the violence of retribution theology that undergirds atonement theology. Furthermore, Rohr and Morrell provide a clear alternative to atonement theology through trinitarian theology.
3. It conveys abstract and complex theological concepts in palatable and accessible language and metaphors.

This book is split into 4 parts. First, the Introduction. This section includes a wonderful forward from William Paul Young and a helpful ‘Trinity 101’ to set the stage for the rest of the book. Part I focuses on the need for a paradigm shift in how we understand the centrality of the Holy Trinity in our personal and communal spiritual lives and ecclesial structures. To demonstrate this, Rohr does a brilliant historical trajectory of the Christian understanding of trinitarian theology. Part II makes a cause for the contemporary and contextual necessity for trinitarian theology primacy. Our embarrassment of the complexity and mystery of trinitarian theology is rooted in an idolatry of empirical data and a distant/detached God that only embracing the divine dance of the Holy Trinity can topple. Part III spends some time focusing on the vital importance of the Holy Spirit within the Holy Trinity AND her central role in centralizing trinitarian theology in our everyday lives/relationships. Rohr and Morrell then provide 7 spiritual practices to try implementing much of what we learned throughout the text.

This book taught me, challenged me, convicted me, and brought me life-giving joy. I would highly recommend it to any and all Christians, and folks who are curious about inter-religious dialogue.

To end my review, here are a few of my favorite quotes:
“All is whole and holy in the very seeing, because you are standing inside the One Flow of Love without the negative pushback of doubting. This is all that there really is. Call it Consciousness, call it God, call it Love; this is the Ground of all Being out of which all things-and especially all good things-come” (86-7).

“Stridently taking sides in a binary system has nothing to do with truth. The gospel itself is neither liberal nor conservative but severely critiques both sides of this false choice. The true good news of Jesus will never fill stadiums, because dualistic masses can never collectively embrace an enlightened ‘Third Way,’ which, contemplatively speaking, always feels a bit like nothing, because in this position you are indeed like Jesus-you have ‘no place to lay you head’ (100).

“Godly knowing is a humble and non-grasping kind of knowledge; it becomes a beautiful process of communion instead of ammunition and power over. It is basically reverence! Knowing without loving is frankly dangerous for the soul and for society. You’ll critique most everything you encounter and even have the hubris to call this mode of reflexive cynicism ‘thinking’ (whereas it’s really your ego’s narcissistic reaction to the moment). You’ll position things too quickly as inferior or superior, ‘with me’ or ‘against me,’ and most of the time you’ll be wrong” (103).

“The Spirit’s work, if we observe, is always to create and then to fully allow otherness; creating many forms and endless diversity seems to be the plan. Creating differences, and then preserving them in being” (113).

“I think penal substitution is a very risky theory, primarily because of what it implies about the Father’s lack of freedom to love or to forgive his own creation….Humans change in the process of love-mirroring, and not by paying any price or debt….The cross is the standing icon and image of God, showing us that God knows what it’s like to be rejected; God is in solidarity with us in the experience of abandonment; God is not watching the suffering from a safe distance. Somehow, believe it or not, God is in the suffering with us. God is is not only stranger than we thought, but stranger than we’re capable of thinking! But we tried to pull salvation into some kind of quid pro quo logic and justice theory-and retributive justice at that! God’s justice, revealed in the prophets, is always restorative justice, but this takes a transformed consciousness to understand….The quid pro quo, retributive mind has to break down in order to truly move forward with God. This is the unique job description of grace and undeserved mercy” (132).

“The biblical text mirrors both the growth and the resistance of the soul….the text moves inexorably toward inclusivity, mercy, unconditional love, and forgiveness. I call it the ‘Jesus hermeneutic.’ Just interpret Scripture the way that Jesus did! He ignores, denies, or openly opposes his own Scriptures whenever they are imperialistic, punitive, exclusionary, or tribal” (137).

“Jesus became incarnate to reveal the image of the invisible God. The personal Incarnation is the logical conclusion of God’s love affair with creation….God in Jesus became what God loves-everything human….God had to become human once the love affair began, because-strictly speaking-love implies some level of likeness or even equality. The Incarnation was an inevitable conclusion, not an accident or an anomaly. It shouldn’t have been a complete surprise to us. God was destined and determined, I believe, to become a human being, but it’s still a big deal when the impossible gap is overcome from God’s side and by God’s choice, even if it was from the beginning….You see, Incarnation is, rightly appreciated, is already redemption-Jesus doesn’t need to die on the cross to convince us that God loves us, although I surely admit that the dramatic imagery has convinced and convicted many a believer. The cross corrected our serious nearsightedness in relation to the Father, buying the human soul a good pair of glasses to clearly see the Father’s love. The mystery of Incarnation is already revealing God’s total embrace” (174-5).

“If you believe that the Son’s task is merely to solve some cosmic problem the Father has with humanity, that the Son’s job is to do that, then once the problem is solved, there’s apparently no need for the concrete imitation of Jesus or his history-changing teachings. Yes, we continue to thank him for solving this problem, but we’ve lost the basis for an ongoing communion, a constant love affair, not to mention the wariness we now have about the Father and the lack of an active need for a dynamic Holy Spirit. The idea of God as Trinity largely fell apart once we pulled Jesus out of the One Flow and projected our problem onto God. We needed convincing, not God” (176).

“Any staying in relationship, any insistence on connection, is always the work of the Spirit, who warms, softens, mends, and renews all the broken, cold places in and between things. The Holy Spirit is always ‘the third force’ happening between any two dynamics. Invisible but powerful, willing to be anonymous, she does not care who gets the credit for the wind from nowhere, the living water that we take for granted, or the bush that always burns and is never consumed” (187).

“Your job is simply to exemplify heaven now. God will take it from there. Here is the remedy when you find it hard to exemplify heaven now: Let love happen….Love is just like prayer; it is not so much an action that we do but a reality that we are. We don’t decide to ‘be loving….’ The love in you-which is the Spirit in you-always somehow says yes. Love is not something you do; love is someone you are. It is your True Self” (192-3).

I hope this quotes bless you as they have blessed me.



View all my reviews

I started this book thinking that I would enjoy it and was surprised to find myself deeply transformed by it.

For me, this text accomplishes three important goals:

  1. It provides a contemporary, contextual, and relevant depiction of trinitarian theology and why the Holy Trinity is so important.
  2. It calls out the violence of retribution theology that undergirds atonement theology. Furthermore, Rohr and Morrell provide a clear alternative to atonement theology through trinitarian theology.
  3. It conveys abstract and complex theological concepts in palatable and accessible language and metaphors.

This book is split into 4 parts. First, the Introduction. This section includes a wonderful forward from William Paul Young and a helpful ‘Trinity 101’ to set the stage for the rest of the book. Part I focuses on the need for a paradigm shift in how we understand the centrality of the Holy Trinity in our personal and communal spiritual lives and ecclesial structures. To demonstrate this, Rohr does a brilliant historical trajectory of the Christian understanding of trinitarian theology. Part II makes a cause for the contemporary and contextual necessity for trinitarian theology primacy. Our embarrassment of the complexity and mystery of trinitarian theology is rooted in an idolatry of empirical data and a distant/detached God that only embracing the divine dance of the Holy Trinity can topple. Part III spends some time focusing on the vital importance of the Holy Spirit within the Holy Trinity AND her central role in centralizing trinitarian theology in our everyday lives/relationships. Rohr and Morrell then provide 7 spiritual practices to try implementing much of what we learned throughout the text.

This book taught me, challenged me, convicted me, and brought me life-giving joy. I would highly recommend it to any and all Christians, and folks who are curious about inter-religious dialogue.

To end my review, here are a few of my favorite quotes:
“All is whole and holy in the very seeing, because you are standing inside the One Flow of Love without the negative pushback of doubting. This is all that there really is. Call it Consciousness, call it God, call it Love; this is the Ground of all Being out of which all things-and especially all good things-come” (86-7).

“Stridently taking sides in a binary system has nothing to do with truth. The gospel itself is neither liberal nor conservative but severely critiques both sides of this false choice. The true good news of Jesus will never fill stadiums, because dualistic masses can never collectively embrace an enlightened ‘Third Way,’ which, contemplatively speaking, always feels a bit like nothing, because in this position you are indeed like Jesus-you have ‘no place to lay you head’ (100).

“Godly knowing is a humble and non-grasping kind of knowledge; it becomes a beautiful process of communion instead of ammunition and power over. It is basically reverence! Knowing without loving is frankly dangerous for the soul and for society. You’ll critique most everything you encounter and even have the hubris to call this mode of reflexive cynicism ‘thinking’ (whereas it’s really your ego’s narcissistic reaction to the moment). You’ll position things too quickly as inferior or superior, ‘with me’ or ‘against me,’ and most of the time you’ll be wrong” (103).

“The Spirit’s work, if we observe, is always to create and then to fully allow otherness; creating many forms and endless diversity seems to be the plan. Creating differences, and then preserving them in being” (113).

“I think penal substitution is a very risky theory, primarily because of what it implies about the Father’s lack of freedom to love or to forgive his own creation….Humans change in the process of love-mirroring, and not by paying any price or debt….The cross is the standing icon and image of God, showing us that God knows what it’s like to be rejected; God is in solidarity with us in the experience of abandonment; God is not watching the suffering from a safe distance. Somehow, believe it or not, God is in the suffering with us. God is is not only stranger than we thought, but stranger than we’re capable of thinking! But we tried to pull salvation into some kind of quid pro quo logic and justice theory-and retributive justice at that! God’s justice, revealed in the prophets, is always restorative justice, but this takes a transformed consciousness to understand….The quid pro quo, retributive mind has to break down in order to truly move forward with God. This is the unique job description of grace and undeserved mercy” (132).

“The biblical text mirrors both the growth and the resistance of the soul….the text moves inexorably toward inclusivity, mercy, unconditional love, and forgiveness. I call it the ‘Jesus hermeneutic.’ Just interpret Scripture the way that Jesus did! He ignores, denies, or openly opposes his own Scriptures whenever they are imperialistic, punitive, exclusionary, or tribal” (137).

“Jesus became incarnate to reveal the image of the invisible God. The personal Incarnation is the logical conclusion of God’s love affair with creation….God in Jesus became what God loves-everything human….God had to become human once the love affair began, because-strictly speaking-love implies some level of likeness or even equality. The Incarnation was an inevitable conclusion, not an accident or an anomaly. It shouldn’t have been a complete surprise to us. God was destined and determined, I believe, to become a human being, but it’s still a big deal when the impossible gap is overcome from God’s side and by God’s choice, even if it was from the beginning….You see, Incarnation is, rightly appreciated, is already redemption-Jesus doesn’t need to die on the cross to convince us that God loves us, although I surely admit that the dramatic imagery has convinced and convicted many a believer. The cross corrected our serious nearsightedness in relation to the Father, buying the human soul a good pair of glasses to clearly see the Father’s love. The mystery of Incarnation is already revealing God’s total embrace” (174-5).

“If you believe that the Son’s task is merely to solve some cosmic problem the Father has with humanity, that the Son’s job is to do that, then once the problem is solved, there’s apparently no need for the concrete imitation of Jesus or his history-changing teachings. Yes, we continue to thank him for solving this problem, but we’ve lost the basis for an ongoing communion, a constant love affair, not to mention the wariness we now have about the Father and the lack of an active need for a dynamic Holy Spirit. The idea of God as Trinity largely fell apart once we pulled Jesus out of the One Flow and projected our problem onto God. We needed convincing, not God” (176).

“Any staying in relationship, any insistence on connection, is always the work of the Spirit, who warms, softens, mends, and renews all the broken, cold places in and between things. The Holy Spirit is always ‘the third force’ happening between any two dynamics. Invisible but powerful, willing to be anonymous, she does not care who gets the credit for the wind from nowhere, the living water that we take for granted, or the bush that always burns and is never consumed” (187).

“Your job is simply to exemplify heaven now. God will take it from there. Here is the remedy when you find it hard to exemplify heaven now: Let love happen….Love is just like prayer; it is not so much an action that we do but a reality that we are. We don’t decide to ‘be loving….’ The love in you-which is the Spirit in you-always somehow says yes. Love is not something you do; love is someone you are. It is your True Self” (192-3).

I hope this quotes bless you as they have blessed me.

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‘Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth,’ Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley

One of my goals for 2021 is to be more intentional in immersing my heart, mind, and soul in transformative teachings from folks outside my own experiences/perspectives.

I’m thrilled to be starting this 100 day journey of spiritual reflection with our Creator God through ‘Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth,’ the new book from brilliant theologian, farmer, activist, and scholar Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley.

I invite you to consider joining me in this 100 day journey and order Rev. Dr. Woodley’s new book today: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506471174/Becoming-Rooted

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My Top 16 Books of 2021

As an avid lover of reading, I have enjoyed finding time to read throughout the year of 2021. This year has been a particularly robust year of reading, completing my 65/65 book reading challenge AND reading more nonfiction than fiction books (this is a rarity for me)!

I intended to chose only 10 books for my top books of the year list, but I just couldn’t narrow it down past 16. As a result, you will find a comprehensive list of my top 16 favorite books of the year.

Some of these books made me laugh, while others made me cry. Some were highly informational, and some educated me toward righteous rage and justice-action. Many of these books fed my soul and spiritual practices. Others were highly creative in imagined worlds, while some envisioned something different in our own world. Some of these books are classics, and some are brand new. A few books are written by friends and colleagues while others are written by people I’ll never know. This list crosses the scope of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

I hope that this list inspires you to add a few books to your 2022 reading list AND encourages you to reach out and connect with me about them! Please know that I’m always happy to chat about any of the listed books. I’m passionate about each and every one of them!

Please enjoy my ‘Top 16 Books of 2021’ list: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2021/25536404

1. ‘Sister Outsider’ by Audre Lorde: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/730745
2. ‘The Interior Castle’ by Teresa of Ávila: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/162512
3. ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ by Ursula K. Le Guin: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13356675
4. ‘Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents’ by Isabel Wilkerson: ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ by Ursula K. Le Guin: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51152447
5. ‘The Land Is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery’ by Sarah Augustine: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55404509
6. ‘The Plague’ by Albert Camus: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11989
7. ‘Teaching to transgress’ by bell hooks: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27091
8. ‘The Naked Now: Learning to See As the Mystics See’ by Richard Rohr: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6522506
9. ‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52892857
10. ‘The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America’ by Richard Rothstein: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32191706
11. ‘Advancing the Mission: The Order of Deacon in the United Methodist Church’ by Margaret Ann Crain: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58800816
12. ‘Gideon the Ninth’ by Tamsyn Muir: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42036538
13. ‘On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century’ by Timothy D. Snyder: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33917107
14. ‘Nature Poem’ by Tommy Pico: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32311036
15. ‘The Prophets’ by Robert Jones Jr.: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52576333
16. ‘Who Was Jesus and What Does It Mean to Follow Him?’ by Nancy Elizabeth Bedford: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54851903
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Top Ten Albums of 2021

https://embed.music.apple.com/us/playlist/top-ten-albums-2021/pl.u-oZyl3vgTRqDBzX

2021 has been a year full of ups and downs. Through it all, music has remained an important force of well-being, emotional connection, and joy. As a result, I wanted to celebrate the music that meant so much to me in 2021 by creating a ‘Top Ten Albums of 2021’ list. I hope that this playlist can bring you as much joy as it has brought me!

1. Lil Nas X, ‘MONTERO,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/montero/1582660720
2. Olivia Rodrigo, ‘SOUR,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/sour-video-version/1582274783
3. Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine, ‘A Beginner’s Mind,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-beginners-mind/1572705246
4. Justin Bieber, ‘Justice,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/justice-the-complete-edition/1588043759
5. Imagine Dragons, ‘Mercury – Act 1,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/mercury-act-1/1574210519
6. Kacey Musgraves, ‘star-crossed,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/star-crossed/1582033417
7. Leon Bridges, ‘Gold-Diggers Sound,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/gold-diggers-sound-deluxe/1594978030
8. Halsey, ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/if-i-cant-have-love-i-want-power/1574984039
9. Taylor Swift, ‘evermore,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/evermore-deluxe-version/1547315522
10. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, ‘Raise The Roof,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/raise-the-roof/1578783072

_____

I hope that you enjoyed this list! What have been some of your favorite albums/songs of 2021? I’d love to hear/get some song suggestions in the comments section!

Thanks for reading and have a blessed end to your 2021~

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