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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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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Praying for Peace With L’Arche Ukraine
For Putin’s conversion, to be able to see our friends again soon, for a good day, for an end to war, we pray. For over a month, every night since the war began in Ukraine, members of Faith and Light and L’Arche-Kovcheh Ukraine have hosted a “Prayer For Peace and an End to War” Zoom…
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Sister Roselyn Heil: Spiritual Physics and Barefoot Belief
Season 5, Episode 9 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. “Going barefoot connects me to the Earth, which connects me to the whole.” – Sister Roselyn Heil LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with “Nature Nun” Sister Roselyn Heil about…
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Jesus still suffers in his body
We walk in silence through the often-deserted streets, accompanied only by the solemn beat of one drum. Our feet fall into rhythm. It feels strange to walk with friends and companions without talking, but soon the silence becomes more comfortable and our moving along feels sacred. Together we form one body. At the front of…
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