Trying to be a perfect Christian can be taken too far.

My mom and I have dedicated ourselves to loving each other as parent and child and as children of God. I believe Monica and Augustine did the same—even when they were at odds over Augustine’s sexual behavior.

If Christians, especially white Christians, vilify Derek Chauvin, we absolve ourselves of our own complicity in the racist structures that permitted him to place and pin his knee on George Floyd’s neck. Surely it is not us, Lord?