well, exactly a year ago i said i was going to do a one week series called “grief week”, centered on the 5 stages of grief that can be part of church and life losses alike. then a friend from the refuge died suddenly in a tragic accident and i decided to start my summer […]
Read Morethe kingdom of God is like…
way back when i said i was going to share more about what happens in our living room on wednesday nights at our house of refuge gathering, which has been happening since the beginning of the refuge in 2006. i never seem to get around to it, but this week i thought i’d take a […]
Read More40 days for wanderers, wonderers, and somehow-allergic-to-churchers
today is ash wednesday, the mark of the beginning of lent. for some, it’s a season that has sincere spiritual significance. for others, it’s just another time of a lot of prayers and posts on facebook that can feel annoying. and for others, there’s not really a big connection to lent in its traditional form […]
Read Morebreaking our american hearts
this past friday night we hosted a theology camp called “the radical welcome of God: wisdom from benedictine spirituality.” two nuns from benet hill monastery shared their hearts & stories & practices with us. it was beautiful in more ways than i can count. my amazing friend & local spiritual director ellen haroutunian facilitated questions for the […]
Read More10 field trips worth taking.
[dropcap]s[/dropcap]everal years ago i wrote a post for an online magazine called “a field trip everyone should take” centered on some of my experiences at social services agencies. it’s just so easy to say things like “well, those people just need to get a job….” or “they are lazy” or quickly end people to get […]
Read Moreone image
* this post is part of the january synchroblog, which is centered on new beginnings. i have loved partaking in the practice of “one word” for the past few years; even though i am one of those people who starts out strong and loses steam by about april, i appreciate the intention and love hearing other […]
Read Morethe spiritual practice of showing up & telling the truth
wikipedia defines a spiritual practice as “the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of cultivating spiritual development.” my working definition of a spiritual practice is “an action or process or intention that opens up our soul and challenges, heals, and transforms us.” june’s synchroblog is today & the topic […]
Read Moreoh yes, you are an artist!
when we were in kindergarten and someone asked the class, “how many of you are artists?” my guess is every hand would shoot up. ask a group of grownups the same question, and we’re lucky if there one or two cautiously put up their hands. what is wrong with this picture? what happened to us? […]
Read Morecorrective experiences
“you’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. we’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. if i make you light-bearers, you don’t think i’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? i’m putting you on […]
Read Moreintra-faith dialogue.
last week i was in a fun conversation with some dear friends (planning our next theology camp!) about how hard it is to hold the space for differing theological perspectives on really big issues. it’s tough because so much of our thinking has become “either/or”. you’re either this type of christian or you’re that type of […]
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