i have been on a bit of a rampage these past few weeks, so i am going to get on my soapbox for a moment (surprise, surprise). you see, in the last couple of months i have been an advocate for a few different friends connected to the refuge who have needed a little help navigating social […]
Read More"auntie kathy, are you sure it's not wrong for you to be a pastor?"
well here’s a sincere email i received last week from my 14 year old niece. i got permission from her to share it on this blog so don’t feel like i’m violating some private conversation. i thought it was too important, telling, to just keep between her and i and if it helps challenge us a little, well, […]
Read Moresurviving spiritual vertigo
this post is part of a synchroblog (a group of bloggers writing on the same topic at the same time. check out their links at the bottom of this post) put together by my blog-friend-on-the-journey glenn hager. the topic is called the revolutionaries synchroblog and you can read more about it here, but the basic […]
Read Morefaith & politics: my journey
imagine that? for years, honestly, i acted like i was 100% sure that God was a republican (a great quote i was reminded of this week by anne lamott: “we can be pretty certain we’ve created God in our own image if he hates all the same people we do.” thanks, jonathan) oh, how that was me! […]
Read Morea time for burning
at the refuge’s february film & discussion night this past friday we watched a time for burning, a documentary shot in 1967 depicting conversations around a white lutheran’s pastor desire to organize a social gathering with a local african-american lutheran church in omaha, nebraska. here’s all he wanted to do: offer a reconciliatory gesture toward his african-american fellow lutherans […]
Read Morehow one parenthetical phrase could change so much
certainty. i miss the days where i was certain, where things were black and white, where i knew the answer “because the Bible says so” and that felt like enough. i can’t tell you the number of times i pulled the card “this is what the Bible says about x, y, or z and so […]
Read Morethe flogging machine
a friend emailed me yesterday and told me she had been hanging out in the flogging machine. in my earlier post i referred to it, but i realized that my friends from the refuge and some others may know what i am talking about but others might not have any idea what it means. i did […]
Read Morethis kind of jesus is too small for me
i know i sometimes sound like i am dissing the evangelical church and its rigid ways. please know i recognize there are so many good, lovely, beautiful sincere people in conservative traditional churches who truly love Jesus and are serving him in amazing ways. at the same time, i am sometimes struck by how pervasive […]
Read Morestrain to hear the kinder voices
every year i make the same new years resolutions. i am really quite pathetic. i always say “okay this year i am going to work out at least 3-4 days a week, stop eating carbs, lose 15 pounds, be more on top of my friend’s birthdays, and clean my house more regularly.” usually within a […]
Read Morewhen is the time?
a few days ago the fam and i went to see the great debaters with denzel washington, the true story of an all-black debate team in the 1930’s that was the first to compete against white colleges. we love those kinds of movies, ones that stir up great conversation and a desire to make a […]
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