sandhyarjha

Christmas Values – Day 4: Hope

There is a certain gallows humor among hospital chaplains, I’ve been told — it’s a way to blow off steam in the midst of carrying so much grief for so many people. But it’s something that doesn’t generally leak out beyond those who live the experience, because there’s still some reverence for what is sacredContinue reading “Christmas Values – Day 4: Hope”

Christmas values – day 3: peace

I am sad about the Christmas tree in Jack London Square. I have taken my niece to see it newly lit. I have wandered the pop-up shops and wished I could afford to shop at them. I have basked in the joy of Christmas that I’m lucky enough to experience because my family is wholeContinue reading “Christmas values – day 3: peace”

Christmas values — day 2: joy

I woke up this morning feeling sorry for homophobes. If you know me, you might be surprised by this reaction, because I don’t tend to suffer intolerance. And at some point in my young life I realized that God doesn’t screw up people, so if God made people gay, I probably shouldn’t keep telling GodContinue reading “Christmas values — day 2: joy”

Thoughts on Serial, my killer ex, and Whose Lives Matter

I’m finally listening to the series Serial that everyone’s talking about (or at least all of my intellectual liberal White friends). It’s about a guy who’s been in prison for 15 years for killing his high school ex-girlfriend except he maybe didn’t do it. (As an aside, I’m on episode 8, and finally an attorney fromContinue reading “Thoughts on Serial, my killer ex, and Whose Lives Matter”

The Ballad of Harry Moore

Preached at First Congregational Church of Oakland, December 14, 2014.I’ve had the story of one of our forebears on my heart recently on this Black Lives Matter Sunday. So while I was supposed to preach “People Get Ready,” my sermon this morning is actually “The Ballad of Harry Moore,” as written by Langston Hughes andContinue reading “The Ballad of Harry Moore”

Things said and left unsaid at #MillionsMarchOAK

Thousands gathered in Oakland yesterday, joining with marchers in San Francisco, New York and Washington, DC. I marched with them, as part of the API solidarity contingent. And I found myself reflecting on what my solidarity looks like with this movement. What I did say: Black Lives Matter. Sometimes I want to clarify, “Black livesContinue reading “Things said and left unsaid at #MillionsMarchOAK”

Dr. King, Ms. Morrison, and a random thought on my impending birthday

I am currently watching Toni Morrison on the Colbert Report, and he just mentioned a fact I hadn’t realized: Toni Morrison was 39 when she wrote her first book. I mention this because on January 2, I will turn 39. The reason that age is so significant to me is that Dr. King was killedContinue reading “Dr. King, Ms. Morrison, and a random thought on my impending birthday”

The Single Rev by Choice – For a Season

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FIDELIA’S SISTERS ON DECEMBER 9, 2014: http://youngclergywomen.org/single-rev-choice/ You know the poem about how people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime? Singleness sometimes feels like it has come into my life (unbidden) for a lifetime, but I’m choosing it for this season. God and I have had wordsContinue reading “The Single Rev by Choice – For a Season”

This bridge called my back in this new civil rights movement moment

Navigating “not Black or White” and “Nonviolent but not non-violent” as an ally and activist I suspect every woman of color in America has at multiple points felt that Donna Kate Rushin wrote the Bridge poem for her. As I wonder whether the bonds of friendship with my radical anarchist friends of color will hold andContinue reading “This bridge called my back in this new civil rights movement moment”

“Things taken: Finding Healing on foreign soil this Thanksgiving”

18th annual Berkeley Multifaith Thanksgiving Service Northbrae Community Church, host Message by Sandhya Jha, Director of the Oakland Peace Center and Director of Interfaith Programs at East Bay Housing Organizations It is a real honor to be here this evening. I have worked with a number of you on affordable housing issues in Berkeley,Continue reading ““Things taken: Finding Healing on foreign soil this Thanksgiving””