A chunk of months ago I had the most amazing conversation with a reader of Faith Shift about the fear involved in Unraveling once tightly held beliefs. It’s a long story, but there was a beautiful sincerity in her words that I know she isn’t alone in. What if, at the end of the day, […]
Read Moredifferent not divided.
One of the things I care the most about is creating spaces and places where people can have hard conversations about life and faith. It’s not the easiest task. And to be honest, it’s much simpler to cultivate a safe space for recovery and healing than it is to create a space to hold our […]
Read Moreformation friday: screwing up as spiritual formation
I make a lot of mistakes. I say stupid things I regret. I dig holes when I should lay down my shovel. I hurt people unintentionally. I hit “send” on emails when I wish I hadn’t. I write things on my blog that sometimes make me cringe later. The past few months I had some […]
Read Morehuman connection.
Some of you may have already seen this excellent video that points to a recent study that confirms what so many have known intuitively–the root of all addictions is disconnection. It’s really worth the time to watch it and reminds me of what one of my favorite theologian-practictioners in the whole-wide-world, Jean Vanier, has been […]
Read More"we want more meat…"
So far, we’ve covered “But God says…” and “I’m not like those people” over the past few weeks (I’m moving slow; it’s been nutty around here this fall). Today is the last one in this series, at least for now, and is a phrase that I have heard for at least 20 years now (and have said […]
Read Morerebuilding: finding life again.
For the past 7 years now I have been writing about my own struggles with faith and doubt and church and have met so many awesome, sincere, wise, brave men and women who are wrestling with these same things, too. It seems like one thing that really helps is to have some way to share […]
Read Morethe simple, messy, complicated art of friendship.
Today is Maundy Thursday, the night of the Last Supper and Jesus reminding the disciples that they were no longer his servants but his friends (John 15:15). That receiving was just as important as giving. That they needed to “do as I have done for you” (John 13:15). A few weeks ago I had the […]
Read Morewhy i love inter-faith conversations.
* This month’s Synchroblog is centered on what we appreciate about other religions. You can see the link list of other bloggers writing on this topic at the bottom of this post. I am grateful that almost 2 years ago a friend of mine from Denver invited me to the interfaith group she had been […]
Read Morein my living room: choices
One of my favorite times of the week is our Wednesday House of Refuge group that gathers at our house. A fun, open group, it’s been going since the beginning of The Refuge, almost 9 years now, and it’s always one of the most interesting times of my week. We have a potluck, and it’s […]
Read Moreredeeming old words (like "redeem")
Oh, I’d love to know how many of you cringed when you read the word “redeem”? It seems like an additional hard part about some of our faith shifts is that particular words we used to love and appreciate have become ones we begin to avoid or cause us to twinge. For all kinds of reasons, […]
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