This week’s episode of Soul + Practice, the new podcast my friend Phyllis Mathis and I finally launched this Fall after a 2 1/2 year delay, is called “Narcissists.” Our weekly conversations are centered on the things we talk about on our Monday walks, and there’s rarely a week that somehow, some way, the topic […]
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This week I got a beautiful letter from my friend who has been in prison for 7 years. We write now and then, and he shared that all 200 inmates in his unit have tested positive for COVID and 11 have died so far. As I read his tender and poignant words, I thought about […]
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This post was swirling around in my head last fall and on the day that my son died I had just put the finishing touches on it and was getting ready to hit “publish.” Then my doorbell rang and the police came to share the worst possible news a parent can ever receive, and we’re […]
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I haven’t written much this summer, even though I didn’t take an official break like I have in the past. It’s been a huge season for our family, with my dad’s death, graduating 3 of our 5 kids from college or high school and launching them into the world, refuge community life, and an amazing […]
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Years ago a friend from The Refuge hosted a Listening Party for Christian men to listen to a panel of women on our experiences as female leaders. It was a brave thing to pull together. We looked forward to having a space to share our experiences and be heard by our Christian brothers. The only […]
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Tomorrow marks exactly 1 year since Donald Trump was sworn into the office of the President of the United States of America. I remember the day well because I was waiting at Panera Bread for a meeting and saw the speech with no sound on the TV that was mounted on the wall. I read […]
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It seems like almost every week there’s another thing to be traumatized about in the news. Between gun violence and political fiascos with big consequences and natural disasters, so many are wrung out. Each time, there’s some kind a “Christian” response. “Let us keep our guns.” “Trump is God’s guy and it’s time to get […]
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It’s bad out here, people! The political division, the way Christianity is all tied up in it, the fear, hatred, ugly, and unknown. Everyone who reads here doesn’t agree with my faith and politics but most everyone these days is feeling the pressure, disorientation, anger, the sometimes-hopelessness that we will ever come back to some […]
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I started to write a post this week about “hopeful realism”, what I’m trying to hold on to right now in the midst of the avalanche of cynicism that is trying to bury me and so many people I know. But as I started writing, things quickly turned another direction. The United States of America […]
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Post-election I’ve been thinking a lot about Nonviolent Communication. I’m not the best at it but I try. It’s been incredibly helpful for me as a tool to notice how unhelpful jackal words are in building connection between people (and how much they’ve been used since November 9th and oh, I’ve said my fair share) and […]
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