Blog Archive
Contemplating the messiness of Christian life
The Messy Jesus Business Blog is an ecumenical Christian gathering of musings about what it means to live the Gospel today. A variety of contributors offer prayer, poetry, book reviews, creative nonfiction and prose about what it means to live a life of faith in our complex, modern times.
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Calm in the Chaos: A Review of “The Soul’s Slow Ripening”
In the glow of the dawn light, I gaze at the green leaves thirsty for a fresh rainfall. I notice the longing of my heart in the quiet, the peace before another overpacked, life-to-the-fullest day. This is the time of year when I tend to reminisce, when my mind wanders back to the ease of
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Religious Life is a Movement of the Spirit
Since the birth of the Church at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has stirred in the hearts of the faithful and called upon some to commit to the Gospel through the evangelical counsels: the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Today the Spirit continues to stir within the hearts of those who love Jesus. Some are
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Finding Care in the Collective: Is Individualism Weighting You Down?
It was 7:30 a.m. on a brisk morning in the Andean mountains of Bolivia back in 2013. I was immersed in my first year of life as a Franciscan lay missioner and one of the only foreigners participating in a overnight workshop on organic agriculture and forest farming. That day we were invited to visit
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Personal Freedom and the Fourth of July
Personal Freedom: freedom of the person in going and coming, equality before the courts, security of private property, freedom of opinion and its expression, and freedom of conscience subject to the rights of others and of the public. – Merriam-Webster Dictionary Personal Freedom: is it a real idea or an ideal made up that each
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Truth-telling and Healing for Racial Reconciliation
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa is well known for his work opposing apartheid and facilitating reconciliation and forgiveness after the fall of South Africa’s apartheid regime. In “The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World,” Archbishop Tutu and his daughter Mpho defined forgiveness as “the capacity to make a
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A Letter to the 22nd Life Lost
I greet you as a first-time writer for the Messy Jesus Business blog at a time that seems messier than most. My heart has been heavy, though that’s not entirely unusual in jail ministry. The stories that accompany experiences of incarceration often involve grave harm, deep woundedness and painful separation. Yet the story of “visiting
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Meeting My Savior Wherever I Find Him
The Spirit has descended, the disciples speak in tongues, 3,000 come to Christ this day in baptism. Yesterday was the feast of Pentecost. In many ways, it is the celebration of the birth of the Church. Before this day — before the Comforter had come — the disciples were gathered in prayer without knowing how
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Listening in Ordinary Time
Learning the art of listening shapes us into creatures who love. Years ago, at around 6 p.m. every night, I sat in the lower bunk bed beside Junior. Every night, between dinner and bedtime, we shared that space; our bodies resting on the thin foam mattress while cricket sounds filled the air. It was 2010,
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The Gospel Mess of Being Human
Because I host a blog and podcast about the spirituality of messiness, one might assume that I am very comfortable with being in messy situations. The truth is that I am obsessed with the mess because I’ve learned that embracing this part of being human helps me to feel healthier, happier and more free. Accepting
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Beckoning
You, the Holy, beckon but are just out of reach. Your light calls and continues beckoning. Are you still there? Sounds of silent screams fill the space where there is no light within me — tugging at my heart, filling voids in my heart with lies. Sunrays begin to stream in, beckoning, inspiring, lingering, loitering
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Messy Jesus Business Podcast Celebrates 50 Episodes
Episode 1, Season 6 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. “When you are in a place of paradox, you’re on holy ground.” – Sister Julia Walsh LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In this very special episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh takes on the role of podcast guest, and
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