well i don’t think it would be possible to focus on a view from the margins without offering some perspectives from a group of folks who tend to be the most marginalized of all when it comes to “the church”-the gay & lesbian community. i recognize that people who read this blog may be all […]
Read Morea view from the margins: respecting mental illness
to respect something is to “show regard or consideration for.” giving our respect to things we hate is a very tricky thing to do. we don’t mind respecting and honoring things and people we appreciate, but when it’s something that makes us mad, well that’s a different story. there is such a wide spectrum when […]
Read Morewhat could be: justice pursued
“justice is what love looks like in public” – from call+response (a must-see movie about modern day human slavery) this is a picture of me in the third grade, 1976. yeah, i know you love the princess leia buns, but check out what’s around my neck. coolest crocheted peace sign choker, ever! my dad was […]
Read Moreempty refrigerators, pawn shops & a long hill up
when our refrigerator is empty, i go to the costco and buy what we need. when my gas tank is empty, i drive down the street, swipe my card and fill up my gas tank. sure, times are tight and we pinch pennies now almost as much as we did when we first were married. […]
Read Morewe can't solve problems with the same minds that created them
this week pretty much the topic of conversation here in denver is the democratic national convention. it really has been a wild week in all kinds of ways. i tried to get tickets to obama’s acceptance speech along with over half of denver but i didn’t make the cut. i did, however, get a chance […]
Read Moremake advocates not buildings
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 Morere-thinking power
the old saying “money is the root of all evil” isn’t really that accurate. we all know there’s something underneath money that is far more insidious–power. i think about power a lot for all kinds of reasons. my free-fall out of the power-laden mega church i was part of probably was the icing on the […]
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 Morewhen one of us hurts, we all hurt
“there may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – elie wiesel this past weekend i finished reading a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini. whoa. i had read the kite runner and seen the movie over christmas. both of them were […]
Read Moremoving mountains
wednesday night at our house of refuge sage facilitated a really cool thing on prayer beads (more on that next week with some pictures, too!). he ended our conversation with an excerpt from one of martin luther king’s sermons. man it was good! so inspiring and so interesting that 40 years later (this speech was […]
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