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writing the journey

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  • Events
  • Comment Policy
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  • Contact Me
  • Books and Other Works

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  • kreyòl ayisyen,  language

    M sispann!

    October 6, 2022 /

    I so much want to be able to speak and understand this language, but if I can't do this outside the classroom, then I just don't know the language.

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    stephen matlock 0 Comments

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    One thing more

    November 20, 2022

    Food Is Family

    May 7, 2023

    Ki kote m ye?

    July 23, 2023
  • man in yellow and black plaid shirt sits on bed looking at camera
    American Exceptionalism,  history,  racism

    History as Cassandra

    August 30, 2022 /

    Let me bring in a little history for you today. Let’s talk about Haïti . . . Haïti was once called the “Pearl of the Caribbean” because of its beauty and its profit for the colonizers. Of course, that profit came at the cost of human misery, torture, sexual abuse, and death. But that doesn’t matter when profit is the highest good. The original inhabitants were turned into creatures of labor (“slaves”) by the colonial slave-masters and rapidly died off because hey abuse and beating and torture and all the rest ends up killing the people you’re trying to make a profit from. So the slave-masters started importing Black Africans—teachers,…

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    People standing and walking down the corridor of a brightly lighted shiny conference hallway

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 36: The Dominant White Culture

    November 21, 2019
    church building in an empty field. The sky is gloomy. A fence runs down the right side of the picture.

    Can This Racial Division Be Healed?

    February 11, 2021
    A footbridge in the fog. The bridge is held up by a concrete hand.

    Be Like Betty White

    January 2, 2022
  • Celebrate Recovery,  education,  faith,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills

    Do This in Remembrance of Me

    August 25, 2022 /

    There were some who could eat right at the altar of sacrifice and restoration with hearts so hard that they would deny food to their own brothers and sisters in community because “well, if they wanted to eat, they should have brought their own.”

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    I’m Just Here to Dance

    February 16, 2019
    white man with gray hair faces away from camera, sitting in empty stone church.

    Making the Past the Past

    August 1, 2020
    A white coffee mug with coffee in it. It has the word "BEGIN" on it, and sits on a wooden table.

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 46: Whole Again

    May 25, 2020
  • kreyòl ayisyen,  language

    Connections

    June 28, 2022 /

    Learning a new language can be difficult, but get the right tools, such as lessons, coaching, and live conversations, and it's easier. #Duolingo #italki #Lingbe

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    stephen matlock 0 Comments

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    White cat stretching on a brown wooden plank

    Two Things

    June 29, 2024

    Eighteen Months In

    September 19, 2023

    In which I learn more words

    July 5, 2022
  • Two orange butterflies alight several thistle blossoms
    American Exceptionalism,  Celebrate Recovery,  faith,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  Seattle

    Bullhorns and Butterflies

    June 19, 2022 /

    If you want to build your faith up so that you honor Jesus and you draw people to Jesus in your lives, might I suggest you do it the way that Jesus did?

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    stephen matlock 0 Comments

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    Man sitting on subway

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 30: Feelings and the Culture of Niceness

    September 10, 2019
    Four toddlers forming a circle of friendship

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 44: Listening

    March 28, 2020
    A montage of human faces overlaid by various color filters.

    What makes someone a human?

    March 2, 2023
  • kreyòl ayisyen,  language

    At long last, language

    June 1, 2022 /

    91 days from now you could be exactly where you are, or you could be deep into the study of a new language, ready to connect with people!

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    A book cover for "Chita Pa Bay". An outline of a man With one hand he is holding a conch shell to his lips to sound an alarm, and with his other he holds a machete.

    I begin “Chita Pa Bay”

    December 31, 2022

    The Enchantment of Creole

    December 12, 2022
    Two Haitian children carrying yellow plastic water buckets on their heads. Behind them is a small water supply building with its door open. In the background are more people carrying yellow plastic water buckets on their heads.

    Great Unexpectations

    January 28, 2024
  • American Exceptionalism,  Black Lives Matter,  faith,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  racism,  violence

    When They See Us—Buffalo Edition

    May 16, 2022 /

    Perhaps white people's thoughts and prayers and good intentions aren't enough when their Black friends are asking for love and dignity.

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    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 9: White Superiority

    February 19, 2019

    Real but Imaginary Threats

    June 19, 2021

    Wyte Innocence

    March 28, 2022
  • American Exceptionalism,  faith,  history,  racism

    Wherefore art thou, Evangelicals?

    May 11, 2022 /

    As America evolved as an independent nation freeing itself from certain connections with Britain such as political and economic control, so did the church, centering itself in the power and people of America who ran the nation, and inescapably represented their cultural values through religious language and theology.

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    News and Updates

    April 13, 2019
    Six people participate in a close group hug.

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 25: Belonging

    May 14, 2019

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 11: Headwinds and Tailwinds

    February 26, 2019
  • musings

    SPEAKASY: An interview with Elyse Douglas

    May 4, 2022 /

    I had the opportunity to interview Elyse Douglas about her latest book, SPEAKEASY, published by Broadback. I appreciate that she gave so generously of her time when she could be working on the sequel!

    read more
    stephen matlock 3 Comments

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    The Purpose-Driven Lie

    October 23, 2019

    Trying Every Doorknob

    February 15, 2019

    This Do

    April 1, 2021
  • reviews

    SPEAKEASY, by Elyse Douglass

    May 4, 2022 /

    Roxie Raines is a girl out of time in 1925s New York City. So how did someone from 2019 end up in a speakeasy, anyway?

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    stephen matlock 6 Comments

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    I Am MLK Jr

    October 21, 2019

    REVIEW: Anxious to Talk About It

    January 17, 2022
    Potter making a clay dish

    Pride and Prejudice, Staged

    October 26, 2019
  • American Exceptionalism,  Black Lives Matter,  Celebrate Recovery,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  racism

    Not Your Place, Not Your Time

    April 15, 2022 /

    White people, do not go into Black spaces to help change the conversation or add your very important opinion. It is just not the time and place for that.

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    stephen matlock 0 Comments

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    nine glass windows, from black to white

    White Jesus, Bible Jesus: Pick One

    November 14, 2019

    The Fear of Transparency

    June 5, 2021

    Real but Imaginary Threats

    June 19, 2021
  • American Exceptionalism,  Celebrate Recovery,  faith,  history,  Life Recovery Skills,  racism

    Making Good in Trouble

    March 29, 2022 /

    “Making good trouble” means stirring things up so that we do not become complacent about our situation and resigned to injustice

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    A child stands at the bottom of stone steps, considering how to overcome a seemingly impossible challenge.

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 41: From Bystander to Ally

    February 21, 2020

    The Barley Soup Recipe

    January 2, 2019
    protest march with a sign that says "No Justice No Peace."

    When we resist, we resist completely

    April 8, 2023
  • American Exceptionalism,  Celebrate Recovery,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  violence

    Wyte Innocence

    March 28, 2022 /

    Wyte people can’t be accused of bias or wrong unless there is exceedingly overwhelming “proof,” and even then we will go down fighting and insisting that we were not wrong

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    Runners' track waiting for the race

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 39: Equality Starts with Equity

    January 18, 2020
    Sihouette of man walking toward light

    Shadows on the Wall

    July 15, 2021

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 17: My Good People

    March 20, 2019
  • bronze bust of Julius Caesar seen from the side
    American Exceptionalism,  Black Lives Matter,  Celebrate Recovery,  faith,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  racism

    Jesus as Emperor

    March 22, 2022 /

    The vision of Jesus for empire Christianity in our Sunday Schools and sermons and theologies is really an irrelevant Jesus who does not match the Jesus of the texts.

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    Gruff bearded white cowboy wearing a white hat

    REVIEW: Jesus and John Wayne

    May 19, 2021
    nine glass windows, from black to white

    White Jesus, Bible Jesus: Pick One

    November 14, 2019

    Beliefs and Behaviors

    August 19, 2021
  • A man works to repair a church window.
    American Exceptionalism,  Black Lives Matter,  Celebrate Recovery,  faith,  family,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  racism,  remodeling

    On Deconstruction

    March 17, 2022 /

    For the vast, vast majority of people, “deconstruction” is a good thing. Deconstruction can result in something far different and, in my opinion, far better than, white Evangelical Christianity.

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    stephen matlock 0 Comments

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    Runners' track waiting for the race

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 39: Equality Starts with Equity

    January 18, 2020
    bronze bust of Julius Caesar seen from the side

    Jesus as Emperor

    March 22, 2022

    Beliefs and Behaviors

    August 19, 2021
  • A stramd of barbed wire running horizontally
    American Exceptionalism,  Celebrate Recovery,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills

    When Our Bibles Get It Wrong

    February 27, 2022 /

    The history of the church is our confidence in rightly understanding until we realize how terribly wrong we’ve misunderstood everything.

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    An ocean shore in the tropics. A line of palms stretches from the lower left to the middle right.

    When you think you want to help

    April 28, 2023

    Not Your Place, Not Your Time

    April 15, 2022
    Man sitting on subway

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 30: Feelings and the Culture of Niceness

    September 10, 2019
  • Black Lives Matter,  Fifth Avenue Theatre,  musicals,  racism,  reviews,  reviews,  Village Theatre

    To Be Human Again

    January 25, 2022 /

    Sometimes the arts can entertain us. Disney has surely figured out that formula. But sometimes . . . the arts can open something up to us that we didn’t ever think we needed to see and learn.

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    My First Foray into the Field

    November 16, 2023
    A Black woman looks at the camera. We see her brown eyes and brown skin.

    When We See Them

    October 24, 2024
    bronze bust of Julius Caesar seen from the side

    Jesus as Emperor

    March 22, 2022
  • Books,  faith,  justice,  racism,  reviews

    REVIEW: Anxious to Talk About It

    January 17, 2022 /

    You will not find this to be the “answer book.” It’s not designed for that. This is a book that invites us to join in the community, in the discussion, in the journey.

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    stephen matlock 0 Comments

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    REVIEW: Urban Apologetics

    April 6, 2021
    A white man in a hat smiles at a white woman who smiles back.

    REVIEW: Good White Racist?

    May 24, 2021
    A book cover. A young boy holding his bicycle is kissed by a young girl.

    Mwen damou pou Vava – a story

    March 17, 2023
  • A footbridge in the fog. The bridge is held up by a concrete hand.
    American Exceptionalism,  Black Lives Matter,  history,  justice,  racism

    Be Like Betty White

    January 2, 2022 /

    Betty White, a white woman in an industry that empowered only white men, stood up for what's right. It cost her the job that she loved. But she did it, not “anyway,” but “because.” She did it because of her own moral integrity.

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    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 12: Icebergs

    March 2, 2019
    man in yellow and black plaid shirt sits on bed looking at camera

    History as Cassandra

    August 30, 2022
    A white coffee mug with coffee in it. It has the word "BEGIN" on it, and sits on a wooden table.

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 46: Whole Again

    May 25, 2020
  • Black Lives Matter,  Books,  history,  justice,  racism,  reviews

    REVIEW: Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call to Leverage Privilege

    December 12, 2021 /

    The book’s subtitle hints at what’s to come: we are all granted some level of privilege in life that others do have; those who have the most privilege are called to use that privilege

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    AI generated image of a black tea kettle and several black pots

    When the Pot Gets It Wrong About the Kettle

    September 23, 2023

    When it is too much to bear but must be borne

    April 18, 2023
    Man sitting on bench by church

    A Place We Cannot Enter

    October 14, 2019
  • faith,  history,  racism,  violence

    When the Good News Isn’t So Good

    December 10, 2021 /

    We have to face the fact that Christians often pick up odious behavior traits and exhibit them while singing songs of love and praise to Jesus of Nazareth.

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    A black and white photo. A young man stands in the middle of a grove of slender trees, all with white trunks.

    When Words Fail

    December 12, 2019

    In the Fields of the Lord

    February 12, 2019

    Fieldnotes on Allyship: Now in Print

    October 10, 2020
  • faith,  justice,  racism,  violence

    The Cross and the Gun

    December 3, 2021 /

    A lot of what passes for discipleship and church membership in America is lacking in this demand to lay down our lives before Jesus and to cast aside the devil and all his works.

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    REVIEW: Shoutin’ in the Fire

    November 10, 2021
    graffito silhouette of girl reaching for red heart on a string

    Words of Apology

    May 9, 2020

    To Study Portuguese

    February 20, 2019
  • Black Lives Matter,  faith,  history,  justice,  racism

    REVIEW: Shoutin’ in the Fire

    November 10, 2021 /

    I had to read this slowly, thoughtfully, with many pauses and breaks. There have been books I’ve read through in one sitting, sometimes because they are so fast paced that they demand my continued attention until I am done. Sometimes it’s over a few days. But this book . . . this book was something I’d pick up, read some pages, and then become so full of feelings that I had to put it down. To think a little. Process what was going on. Try to understand what was happening as the part of me I recognize as “me” was encountering this most remarkable book. Danté has written a book…

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    bronze bust of Julius Caesar seen from the side

    Jesus as Emperor

    March 22, 2022
    Man wearing hard hat and orange safety vest is tying iron construction rods together.

    Chèmèt chèmètrès

    August 11, 2024
    Brass key sitting on fallen leaves

    Hard Questions, Hard Answers

    June 20, 2021
  • American Exceptionalism,  faith,  history,  justice,  racism

    When You See Their Truth

    November 1, 2021 /

    Whatever your beliefs are about redemption and salvation and even universalism—Jesus was always with those who are most despised and feared by Evangelicals. They’re the people he had meals with. Their homes were his resting place. They were whom he wept for.

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    stephen matlock 0 Comments

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    Sihouette of man walking toward light

    Shadows on the Wall

    July 15, 2021

    New Year, New Labels

    January 1, 2019

    Moral Switzerlands

    July 15, 2019
  • Black Lives Matter,  justice

    REVIEW: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

    October 12, 2021 /

    These are the stories of Black women living lives as Black women with no one else as their betters, let alone their equals.

    read more
    stephen matlock 0 Comments

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    Real but Imaginary Threats

    June 19, 2021

    REVIEW: Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call to Leverage Privilege

    December 12, 2021
    Two Haitian children carrying yellow plastic water buckets on their heads. Behind them is a small water supply building with its door open. In the background are more people carrying yellow plastic water buckets on their heads.

    Great Unexpectations

    January 28, 2024
  • A woman yells through a megaphone
    faith,  housekeeping,  justice

    Which Way?

    October 9, 2021 /

    Your faith is about your personal relationship with your values, and it should not matter in the slightest whether anyone knows why you behave as you do when you behave better because of your faith.

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    stephen matlock 0 Comments

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    white man with gray hair faces away from camera, sitting in empty stone church.

    Making the Past the Past

    August 1, 2020

    When it is too much to bear but must be borne

    April 18, 2023
    Leaf floating on water

    When You Fall

    September 21, 2019
  • A Black man, centered, is being pushed by the hands of an off-screen person
    Black Lives Matter,  justice,  racism

    The White Voice in Black Conversations

    September 19, 2021 /

    There seems always to be that moment when the white participant says something that is simply too much to handle.

    read more
    stephen matlock 0 Comments

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    Mixed Scrabble tiles

    Language and Memory

    February 10, 2025

    Real but Imaginary Threats

    June 19, 2021
    Brass key sitting on fallen leaves

    Hard Questions, Hard Answers

    June 20, 2021
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