Welcome from
Eric O. Ledermann

about.me/ericledermann twitter.com/ericledermann facebook.com/ericledermann Eric Ledermann

Thanks for stopping in. Pour yourself a cup o' jo, take a load off your feet, and check out what's here. You are looking at my ramblings about issues of faith, life and culture—they are my own and are not necessarily shared by those with whom I work, live or otherwise engage.

My journey has led my family and me across the country where I have been introduced to a lot of people and a lot of different ways of doing things. One passion, though, runs through all these experiences: building beloved and sustainable community. "Sustainable" community is kind of a strange notion, as communities (people) change constantly, and things are always in motion. So, the latest chapter of my life has led me to the notion of "impermanence"—not an idea that comes naturally in a culture that likes to build monuments to our greatness for future generations to view and admire. But, I'm trying to practice my awareness of impermanence—the idea that nothing is permanent, nothing is forever, and things are always in flux.

Feel free to share your comments and engage in any conversation that may be happening here, but just know that I do reserve the right to delete any spam or anything I deem inappropriate or offensive. I look forward to dialoguing with anyone who cares to dialogue!

Peace and blessings,
                   Eric Ledermann

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Holy Week - Day 4

Presbyterians sharing in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who are fighting for their lives at the AZ State Capitol.

With every step Jesus took into and within Jerusalem, he pushed against the status quo of fear and oppression. He pushed the Jewish leadership in their cooperation with the empire. He pushed the Roman leadership, riding that thin line between nuisance and seditionist. The leaders saw that the crowd was getting behind Jesus, drawn to his preaching of love and justice (probably more the justice than the love). They needed to figure out how to […]

On Sanctuary, Social Justice and Advent

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Over the years I have been told many times that the Church should not engage in politics. However, having read scripture and come to understand our Presbyterian tradition more deeply, I have a hard time understanding how the Church cannot be involved in politics. To be involved in “politicsâ€? (from the Greek word polis, which means “cityâ€?) is to be involved in the shaping and reshaping of the social structures—formal and informal—that govern how we […]

Why Sanctuary? #sanctuary2014 #not1more #LetLuisStay

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I’m often told my blog posts are too long. Well, I’m afraid this one is no exception. Part of the problem may be I just don’t blog often enough. It’s hard for me to just “go for the soundbite,” as I’m wondering if that’s part of the problem in our public civil discourses. We are so interested in the soundbites (giving and hearing) that we are unable to go deeper into the […]

#MigrantTrail

The line of 50+ walkers, walking in a silent procession to begin the 75 mile trek.

Walkers gather for a blessing in Sasabe, Sonora.

On Monday of this week a group of 50 or so people from various backgrounds and of various religious and political beliefs gathered to begin the 11th year of a 75 mile trek from Sasabe, Mexico to Tucson, Arizona, through the brutal Sonoran desert, for the 11th annual Migrant Trail Walk. They will arrive in Tucson on Sunday, having walked an average of 10-15 miles […]

AZ Gov. Brewer Vetoes SB1062 - Now What?

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PHOENIX, AZ - Arizona Governor Janice K. Brewer has just vetoed a controversial bill (S.B. 1062) passed by both houses of the state legislature along partisan lines that claimed to promote religious freedom, but actually allowed businesses and individuals to discriminate against anyone if serving that person violated the religious beliefs of the owner or individual. Her reason for the veto: business interests. She was not concerned with the freedom, liberty, or protection […]

The Upside Down World of God

OpenHolyBible

Both our Hebrew and Greek scriptures hold a vision of the kingdom of God where the rich and powerful are knocked down off their pedestals of arrogance and pride, and the poor and marginalized are lifted up out of the pits of despair, and all people are called to live in harmony and at least “relative” equity.

Our country’s own Declaration of Independence from British tyranny proclaims: “all men (sic.) are created equal.” Unfortunately, […]

The values that hold us together?

A new/old journey has begun/continued, not unlike the modernist/orthodox journey of the early 20th century with Reinhold Niebuhr’s realist orthodoxy (shedding the utopian vision of earlier evangelicals but clinging to the pillars of evangelical fundamentals). In my D.Min. studies I am taking a class with the snarky title: “Why Church Matters in an Age of Narcissism”, taught by the equally sarcastic but profound Rev. Lillian Daniels. I am scrambling to finish the readings before our […]

Hope for Redemption?

One of the books I’ve been reading for my D.Min. program is by Mary McClintock Fulkerson called Places of Redemption: Theology for a Worldly Church. She follows a southern multiracial congregation through its trials and triumphs as they seek to be multicultural.

Her book starts with this small United Methodist congregation as a dying white congregation that decides to take some risks (what have they to lose?) by intentionally reaching out to […]