Do you see it? Do you see who shows up for the very first Christmas? We’re so used to the image that we don’t even notice what’s crazy subersive about the melange of folks kicking it at the manger, but this is as close to Burning Man as 1st century Judea would have gotten (exceptContinue reading “Christmas values – Day 8: Community”
Category Archives: housing
Oakland, you’re the hot chick now:
Stop letting your boyfriends treat you like you’re lucky to be with them! Please forgive the heteronormative nature of the following piece. If you read my blog posts regularly, you know a few things about me: I’ve been the fat chick and I’ve been the hot chick. I’ve been with guys who treat me wellContinue reading “Oakland, you’re the hot chick now:”
Homelessness, the woman on my patio and the Woman at the Well
Sermon preached at First Christian Church of Palo Alto, August 10, 2014. Text: John 4:5-15 (with references to later verses), the story of the Woman at the Well Preamble to the sermon: I am known in some circles for preaching a really up-on-your-feet, clap and shout amen kind of sermon. I think that was whyContinue reading “Homelessness, the woman on my patio and the Woman at the Well”
The Myth of Street Smarts versus Book Smarts
Delivered June 13, 2014, at Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago annual Convocation. I looked, and a hand was stretched out to me, and a written scroll was in it. He spread it before me; it had writing on the front and on the back, and written on it were words of lamentation andContinue reading “The Myth of Street Smarts versus Book Smarts”
A Tale of Two Cities: Redemption and gentrification in a “transitioning” neighborhood and a pop-up middle class neighborhood
When I was pastor at First Christian Church of Oakland, a couple of our regular members were homeless. They made most of their income by recycling. They could tell you where to go on Saturdays when the regular recycling center was closed, and how to get money for the wine bottles that don’t have theContinue reading “A Tale of Two Cities: Redemption and gentrification in a “transitioning” neighborhood and a pop-up middle class neighborhood”
Sometimes you’re the restaurant worker; sometimes you’re the hipster: Thoughts on gentrification
I hung out at the intersection of La Mission and the Mission. I was hanging out at the intersection of the past and the future. A couple of months ago I went to a fundraiser with a good friend of mine at a Mexican restaurant in the Mission District of San Francisco. The organization wasContinue reading “Sometimes you’re the restaurant worker; sometimes you’re the hipster: Thoughts on gentrification”
On colds and neighbors and unsheltered people in Oakland
I woke up with a hacking cough at about 3AM this morning. I focused solely on my own misery until I heard an accompanying cough through the wall; my neighbor in the next apartment in my fancy Jack London Square building must have the same cold. So we coughed away in solidarity until we bothContinue reading “On colds and neighbors and unsheltered people in Oakland”
Sandhya Rani Jha 