This blog series has been almost a year in the making, precipitated by my visit to Israel/Palestine in May 2014 as a small group leader on the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program's Mosaic of Peace trip. For years, I have been wrestling with the implications of my identity, my nationality, and my religion when it comes to the region. My identity: My father’s family is white Jewish, originally from Eastern Europe, specifically Poland, Lithuania, and the Ukraine, perhaps even Russia. Some fled pogroms and other persecution, and maybe others just wanted a new life. Each family member has her or his own unique story. Under the U.S. definition of race and ethnicity, I am considered ethnically Ashkenazi Jewish of the American persuasion just as much as I am considered ethnically Japanese American. Both ethnic groups have very diverse ways of living out those identities, and while I’m not a unicorn, I might be a more extreme example of that diversity of ethnic identity. I’m aware t...
Validated ministry in theological education, social justice advocacy, religious publishing... you get the picture. Pondering life, faith, church, and world. Views are my own and do not represent my employer.