Good food for thought, reflection, and conversation:

The 88-year-old son of a slave shares his fascinating story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/07/27/slave-son-racism-george-floyd/

A New Testament scholar shows how the early church was mocked for being welcoming to women: https://www.michaeljkruger.com/how-early-christianity-was-mocked-for-welcoming-women/

A controversy over Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor’s racism erupts: https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/cancelling-flannery-oconnor

Nostalgic for nostalgia: people used to pine for a simpler life. Now they’ve got it – and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be: https://www.economist.com/1843/2020/07/20/the-death-of-nostalgia?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/coronavirusthedeathofnostalgia1843&mc_cid=a46b2624a7&mc_eid=c6f355d1e8

Everyone is talking about the book White Fragility. Ed Stetzer launches a series discussing it with Christian leaders: https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/july/white-fragility-conversation-on-race-and-racism.html

Podcast pick of the week: The Freakonomics podcast Why Are Stories Stickier Than Statistics? cited a study that found that more people can remember the ingredients to a Big Mac than the Ten Commandments. We know stories matter, and this podcast reveals some interesting information about why this is.

Cover photo by Chris W on Unsplash