Author Archives: sandhyarjha

The perpetual foreigner and the self-perpetuating stereotype

I was talking recently with a guy I’m dating. He mentioned that he had been dreaming about flying alongside a truck, and waving at the truck driver who just looked at him funny. “Probably just the sound of traffic filtering into your dream,” I said unromantically. Undeterred in his desire to have a deep andContinue reading “The perpetual foreigner and the self-perpetuating stereotype”

Remembering 9/11 as an American and a South Asian American

  I remember my father gathering the papers on a Saturday morning to go to a bank in Cleveland. “PLEASE don’t go,” I tried not to sound like a 5-year-old. I was 25, visiting my parents in Akron after a successful career in Washington, DC and getting ready for graduate school in Chicago. Banks don’tContinue reading “Remembering 9/11 as an American and a South Asian American”

On earbuds, harassment and not wanting to block out the world. (And on Mrs. Hall and “Seeing a Woman.”)

I use earbuds now. I use them reluctantly but at full volume, ever since a woman shouted out the passenger window of a passing car at me, “eat more salads!” And when I pulled out my earbuds (softly playing This American Life), thinking it might be someone I knew, she hollered, “you heard me!” andContinue reading “On earbuds, harassment and not wanting to block out the world. (And on Mrs. Hall and “Seeing a Woman.”)”

To everything… a reflection on seasons of a radical

I gritted my teeth as she said it. A colleague I deeply respect was speaking at a luncheon, and she, with the full force of her Memphis charm, put forward this statement: “When I was twenty, I wanted to change the world.” She paused for dramatic effect. “When I was thirty, I wanted to changeContinue reading “To everything… a reflection on seasons of a radical”

First person plural: the Lord’s prayer and liberation

This is a reconstructed version of the sermon I preached as my last sermon as pastor of First Christian Church of Oakland, July 1, 2013.   The “scripture reading” for the morning was actually this skit.   How many people in the congregation knew that the Lord’s Prayer is actually in the bible? (Most handsContinue reading “First person plural: the Lord’s prayer and liberation”

Variations on the Lord’s Prayer

In my final sermon at FCCO, I talked about the Lord’s Prayer. Part of the sermon involved everyone getting a different interpretation of that prayer and discussing how it made them look at the original version in new ways. (Part of the point is that there are lots of layers to scripture, but unless we’reContinue reading “Variations on the Lord’s Prayer”

Singing a new story—God, Oakland, and hope amidst change

(The theme of the June 2013 Michigan Disciples of Christ Women’s Retreat was “Our Stories, God’s Story.” This was the sermon I offered on the last day of the retreat, after two days of workshops that invited us to go deeply in sharing our personal journeys, our connection to scripture, our experiences of being peopleContinue reading “Singing a new story—God, Oakland, and hope amidst change”

Love in the Time of Theodicy

I don’t manuscript sermons, but this final sermon in the series, “Everything you ever wanted to know about the Bible but were afraid to ask,” at First Christian Church of Oakland, was on one of the toughest questions out there: “If God is all-loving and all-powerful, why is there suffering?” So I’m doing my bestContinue reading “Love in the Time of Theodicy”

How non-attachment might have improved my ministry

When I think of the number of moments when I felt emotionally spent, overwhelmed, despairing, and even resentful in my first five years of ministry, it makes me ache a little for my younger, more enthusiastic and foolhardy self. The last two years went a little bit better—for me if not for my congregation—and theContinue reading “How non-attachment might have improved my ministry”