The Wild Reed

Thursday, April 02, 2026

Holy Thursday Prayer

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The Passion of Christ – Last Supper
• Trusting God’s Generous Invitation
• The Servant Pope
• Jesus at the Border

Wednesday, April 01, 2026

In Remembering All Who Suffer From Violence, We Remember Jesus

Shane Claiborne, author and founder of The Simple Way, has shared a “new presentation of the Stations of the Cross” for Holy Week 2026. Writes Shane:

This week is Holy Week. As we remember Christ – the Prince of Peace – we also remember all those who suffer from violence, for it was Jesus who said “Whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” We are grateful to our friends at the Guatemalan-Maya Center for creating these images.

I share today some of the images of this “new presentation,” one focused on the dehumanizing policies and actions of the U.S. government as they relate to immigration. To see all of the images, click here.

I have to say that these powerful images and the message they convey remind me of the “Economic Way of the Cross” which I participated in over 25 years ago in Washington, DC. Following is how I described this event on my Faces of Resistance website.

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The Economic Way of the Cross
Washington, DC – April 10, 2000

In April 2000 I traveled from the Twin Cities to Washington, D.C. to participate in a range of rallies, demonstrations, and teach-ins aimed at protesting the structure and policies of both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – two organizations that, along with the World Trade Organization (WTO), are the key architects of the corporate global economy.

Collectively, the various events in Washington, D.C. of April 2000 were termed A16 – a reference to April 16, the main day of protest. A16 brought 15,000 people onto the streets of the capital and, like the protests in Seattle against the WTO in November 1999, united a range of people – environmentalists, union members, students, religious people, peace activists, and individuals representing organizations from those countries most devastated by the unjust policies of the World Bank and IMF.

By far the most powerful event I was part of was the “Economic Way of the Cross” on Monday, April 10, 2000. Organized by the Jubilee 2000-aligned Religious Working Group on the World Bank and IMF, a coalition of over forty religious organizations, the Economic Way of the Cross was a prayerful procession through the streets of downtown Washington, D.C. The event sought to draw attention to the policies and practices of various corporate and governmental institutions that devastate the lives of millions of people throughout the world. The Christian underpinnings of the event reflect the theological understanding of Christ being continually crucified while ever people and other aspects of creation experience suffering and death as a result of oppressive structures of power.

“The Economic Way of the Cross invites people of faith to relate prayerfully the Passion of Jesus Christ to the suffering of women, men and children throughout the world today,” noted key organizer Anne Pettifor. “Often, this suffering is the result of unjust economic relationships, what we call social, or structural sin.”

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Jesus at the Border
• Protesting Trump’s “Dystopian” Immigration Policies
• Honoring Óscar and Valeria
• Demanding Justice and Embodying Compassion for Separated Families
• Let Us Be the Wise Ones They’re Waiting For
• A Prayer for Asylum Seekers Being Tear-Gassed at the Border
• Opposing the Trump Administration's Inhumane Treatment of Immigrant Families
• “What We’re Seeing Here Is a Tipping Point”
• Jeremy Scahill on the Historical Context of the Trump Administration's “Pathologically Sick” Anti-Immigrant Agenda
• 2000+ Take to the Streets of Minneapolis to Express Solidarity with Immigrants and Refugees
• May Day 2007

For The Wild Reed’s 2025 Holy Week posts, see:
• Palm Sunday: A Sacred Paradox
• Via Dolorosa
• Silent Saturday
• Marianne Williamson on the Alchemy of Easter

For The Wild Reed’s 2024 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Joyce Rupp’s book Jesus, Companion in My Suffering: Reflections for the Lenten Journey), see:
• Recognizing the Truth
• Powerless
• Feeling Abandoned
• Joy Beyond Suffering

For The Wild Reed’s 2023 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Marianne Williamson’s book, The Gift of Change: Spiritual Guidance for a Radically New Life), see:
• From Spiritual Death to Rebirth
• A Vortex of the Miraculous
• Tomb Time
• He Is Risen, and So Are You

The Wild Reed’s 2022 Holy Week posts:
• “The Most Authentic Statement of Created Life”
• Good Friday Reflections
• “This Spring, May We Renew the World”
• Easter for Mystics

The Wild Reed’s 2021 Holy Week post:
• The Final Say

The Wild Reed’s 2020 Holy Week posts:
• Holy Week, 2020
• God’s Good Gift

The Wild Reed’s 2019 Holy Week post:
• In This In-Between Time . . . of Both Loss and Promise

For The Wild Reed’s 2018 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Druid author and speaker John Michael Greer’s essay “The God from the House of Bread” in the 2012 anthology, Jesus Through Pagan Eyes: Bridging Neopagan Perspectives with a Progressive Vision of Christ), see:
• The God from the House of Bread: A Bridge Between Christianity and Paganism (Part 1)
• The God from the House of Bread (Part 2)
• The God from the House of Bread (Part 3)
• The God from the House of Bread (Part 4)

For The Wild Reed’s 2017 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from a 1999 interview with scholar and teacher Andrew Harvey, accompanied by images that depict Jesus as the embodiment of the Cosmic Christ), see:
• Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 1)
• Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 2)
• Jesus Our Guide to Mystical Love (Part 3)

For The Wild Reed’s 2016 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Richard Horsley’s 1993 book Jesus and the Spiral of Violence, accompanied by images of Juan Pablo Di Pace as Jesus in the 2015 NBC mini-series A.D.: The Bible Continues), see:
• Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 1)
• Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 2)
• Jesus and Social Revolution (Part 3)

For The Wild Reed’s 2015 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Cletus Wessels’ book Jesus in the New Universe Story), see:
• The Two Entwined Events of the Easter Experience
• Resurrection in an Emerging Universe
• Resurrection: A New Depth of Consciousness

For The Wild Reed’s 2014 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from John Neafsey’s book A Sacred Voice is Calling: Personal Vocation and Social Conscience), see:
• “To Die and So to Grow”
• The Way of the Wounded Warrior
• Suffering and Redemption
• A God With Whom It is Possible to Connect
• A Discerning Balance Between Holiness and Wholeness: A Hallmark of the Resurrected Life

For The Wild Reed’s 2013 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Albert Nolan’s book Jesus Before Christianity, accompanied by images of Jesus that some might call "unconventional"), see:
• Jesus: The Upside-down Messiah
• Jesus: Mystic and Prophet
• Jesus and the Art of Letting Go
• Within the Mystery, a Strange and Empty State of Suspension
• Jesus: The Revelation of Oneness

For The Wild Reed’s 2012 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Cynthia Bourgeault’s book The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind – A New Perspective on Christ and His Message), see:
• The Passion: “A Sacred Path of Liberation”
• Beyond Anger and Guilt
• Judas and Peter
• No Deeper Darkness
• When Love Entered Hell
• The Resurrected Jesus . . .

For The Wild Reed’s 2011 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Albert Nolan’s book Jesus Before Christianity, accompanied by images of various cinematic depictions of Jesus), see:
• “Who Is This Man?”
• A Uniquely Liberated Man
• An Expression of Human Solidarity
• No Other Way
• Two Betrayals
• And What of Resurrection?
• Jesus: The Breakthrough in the History of Humanity
• To Believe in Jesus

For The Wild Reed’s 2010 Holy Week series (featuring excerpts from Andrew Harvey’s book Son of Man: The Mystical Path to Christ), see:
• Jesus: Path-Blazer of Radical Transformation
• The Essential Christ
• One Symbolic Iconoclastic Act
• One Overwhelming Fire of Love
• The Most Dangerous Kind of Rebel
• Resurrection: Beyond Words, Dogmas and All Possible Theological Formulations
• The Cosmic Christ: Brother, Lover, Friend, Divine and Tender Guide

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

March Vignettes

Monday, March 30, 2026

Celebrating Kiki

Before the month ends I want to give a shout-out to Kiki Dee, one of my all-time favorite female vocalists. The English pop/soul singer-songwriter turned 79 on March 6th.

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Kiki!

If you're unfamiliar with the phenomenal Kiki Dee, the following by Brian Penn provides a helpful introduction.

Where do I start a review for the Queen of British Rhythm ‘n’ Blues?

Kiki won her first recording contract in 1963 but, inexplicably, a run of singles missed out on the charts. She later became the first British artist ever signed to Tamla Motown. An album called Great Expectations followed but still no commercial success for Kiki.

Elton John saw her potential and signed her to his Rocket label in the mid ’70s. This proved to be her most fruitful period in the charts, duetting with Elton on “Don’t Go Breaking my Heart,” a chart topper in the U.K. and U.S. As a solo artist, she hit with “Amoureuse,” “I’ve Got the Music In Me,” and “Star,” all cracking the Top 20.

Following starring roles in the West End in the ’80s [most notably in Blood Brothers], Kiki teamed up with Carmelo Luggeri in the mid ’90s, producing [four] albums – Where Rivers Meet (1998), The Walk of Faith (2005), A Place Where I Can Go (2013), and The Long Ride Home (2022) – as well as a highly respected live show.

In celebrating Kiki’s birthday at The Wild Reed, I share Lewis Nicholls’ 40-minute interview with Kiki from 2024. It’s a great interview, one of the best out there. Here’s how Nicholls introduces it:

The legend that is Kiki Dee joins me for an episode of Life Stories to talk about her amazing career, her friendship with Elton John, performing with Queen, and being on stage at Live Aid. Plus some fab stories.

Kiki’s about to go on tour in the U.K. with her longtime musical collaborator Carmelo Luggeri. If you get the chance to see this “classy duo” in concert, go for it! By all accounts, you won’t be disappointed.

For more of Kiki Dee at The Wild Reed, see:
• Music Legend Kiki Dee: “I’m a Down-to-Earth Person”
• Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri
• “A Classy Duo”
• Celebrating the Proverbial “Soulman”
• Classic Kiki
• Elton and Kiki: Together Again
• Deeper Understandings
• The End Is Not the End
• Amoureuse
• Honoring the Darkness While Remembering the Light
• The Light of This New Year’s Day

Related Off-site Links:
An Interview with Kiki Dee – BBC Breakfast (February 1, 2026).
Kiki Dee’s Forward Motion – The Strange Brew (August 2023).

Sunday, March 29, 2026

No Kings 3.0

Yesterday I participated in the nationwide “No Kings” protest in St. Paul, Minnesota – not at the big march and rally at the Capitol but at one of the hundreds of smaller events that took place throughout the metro area and the state.

This was the third “No Kings” protest organized by the Democratic Party-aligned Indivisible coalition. This alignment is important to acknowledge as it effectively defangs this protest movement, as many have noted.

Take, for example, the following from John Ross and Nathan J. Robinson’s October 2025 article, “'No Kings’ Protests Are Just Not Enough”:

Some activists and commentators on the left have characterized No Kings as a kind of cringey carnival of liberalism, and they aren’t totally wrong. Chris Smalls, founder of the Amazon Labor Union, asked, “No Kings Day is big ass parades; when are we going to withhold our labor for, I don’t know, maybe genocide?” Butch Ware, Jill Stein’s former running mate and current Green Party candidate in California’s gubernatorial race, observed that “mass mobilization without any specific demand and without any organization is actually detrimental because it wastes potential energy that could be directed into effectively organizing against systems.” Max Blumenthal, editor-in-chief of the Grayzone, points out that No Kings messaging “does not include opposition to U.S.-Israeli wars” despite officially referencing Ukraine.

It’s understandable why people feel cynical. Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi have personally endorsed No Kings, with Pelosi posting a video of herself ripping up a paper crown, echoing her theatrical tear-up of Trump’s State of the Union speech in 2020. Cory Booker and Adam Schiff showed us what democracy looks like. Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, unironically posted a photo of himself holding a sign that reads “If Kamala had won we’d be at brunch!” Undoubtedly, many of the attendees would indeed be at brunch if Kamala had won.

More recently, journalist and activist Lauren Steiner observed the following.

There are no announced steps to be taken after this march and not even any demands, except that we don’t have kings. But it doesn’t matter whether we have an autocrat or not, if we still have an oligarchical, monopolized system. We need to get rid of the whole system. The only way to get rid of the whole system is to shut down the economy via a general strike.

If these organizers were calling for a general strike, instructing people how to organize one and raising money for a strike fund, that would be useful. If everybody only gave $10, they could raise $90 million just today and then more online and at other actions. But they’re not doing that.

Even though I agree with everything said above, I still chose to attend yesterday's “No Kings” protest, but with a sign and message that, hopefully, made people think about beyond the liberal talking points that are, in the words of Fights Back! founder Chase Linko-Looper, “bold enough to touch the systems that crown kings in the first place.”

Above: My friend Christine displaying the reverse side of my sign. Christine is the mother of Butch Ware, Green Party candidate for California Governor. For more about my sign, one that I created for the first “No Kings” protest in June 2025, click here.

Following are more images of the “No Kings” protest I attended yesterday at Fairview and Randolph Aves in St. Paul, MN. They are accompanied by the insightful words of Chase Linko-Looper.

The “No Kings” framing carries real weight. It digs into something ancient and angry, something abolitionists and grassroots fighters have always understood. But right now, too many liberal organizers are wearing that language like a costume. Bold enough for a sign. Not bold enough to touch the systems that crown kings in the first place.

Here’s the truth: if you’re actually serious about confronting authoritarianism, stop treating a rally like a photo op. A march that doesn’t disrupt anything, and doesn’t interrupt business as usual or squeeze the flow of money and power, that’s not strategy. That’s performance. It builds community. It feels good. But on its own it won’t stop a damn thing.

And let’s be direct: these protests are being turned into a recruitment pipeline for the Democratic Party. They co-opt radical, anti‑monarchist language, then strip it of anything militant. The goal shifts to funneling people into electoral work instead of building independent power. That’s not harnessing the moment. That’s defanging it.

I’m not here to tear anyone down. I want bodies in the streets. But I’ll say it honestly: mobilization without disruption is a hobby. If we’re not willing to halt the flow of capital, to make it more expensive for the powerful to ignore us than to listen, then we’re organizing for comfort, not for change. The “No Kings” energy is real. I’d love to see it not end up as another fundraising list. But I already know how this goes.

– Chase Linko-Looper
via social media
March 2, 2026