Liv Larson Andrews

I'm only OK with war when the enemies are zombies...

I will never have to have the talk. As the parent of a white child, I will never have to sit my son down and explain in painful detail how he may be unjustly targeted by police and neighborhood watch-folk, how his community may view him as a threat before he ever speaks.

Sure, I will talk to my son about sex. Drugs. War. Unbridled capitalism.

That said, I have trouble with our Western notions of owning children in the first place.

Story and parable are potent teaching tools. So far, Arlo picks up on all sorts of stories we tell, including biblical ones.

Tomorrow night, Christians all around the globe will gather by fire. It is the night of the Pascha, the Easter Vigil. Modeled in part on the Jewish Passover, the vigil begins at sundown (approximately) and continues for a long time. The first action of the vigil is to bless the new fire, a reminder that God is the source of all warmth and light.

We gather in silence. It is dim and the sanctuary bare. We wear no colorful vestments and no banners fly. It is simple and stark.