Over the past five years, I have gradually become attached to a laptop. A couple of months ago, I reluctantly got a smart phone. Of course I know I am not all-that-strange for these personal facts, but as one who prefers to be more centered on my spiritual life and my relationship with God than…
It’s another Friday in Lent. It’s a day of sorrow and penance as we remember Jesus’ death on the cross. Many of us are fasting in a bit of an extra way today. Some are abstaining from meat and other pleasures. Others are gathering in churches to pray the Stations of the Cross. As…
Recently, I asked my students what comes to mind when they hear the phrase “Kingdom of God.” This (low-quality) photo summarizes the lively classroom discussion that occurred that day. As I told my students, I intentionally recorded all their comments on the board in a very messy fashion because I want them to see that the Kingdom…
Lent: we’ve been into it for over a week now. We are in this spiritual wilderness desiring to be better people, hoping to change. All sorts of actions are getting us into spiritual-shape again: fasting, almsgiving and prayer. Through each simple act, we confront our weaknesses and give up on trying to make it on our own….
tomorrow, everywhere: next to strangers friends, neighbors We form lines. around blocks down church aisles arise and admit we sin, we suck we need more than good luck We need God. Love marks black truth creased skin We all are part dirt. for 40 days, commit to fast, to strip…
We’re all broken. Broken by our pain and suffering, broken by injustice, broken by the Truth. The activities of Lent help me encounter my brokenness. Or, more like, confront my brokenness. I am tuned into social injustices in a great volume. In particular, I am praying and thinking about poverty and hunger a lot due…
Some days, I feel like I just want a restart button. At times, I even feel this way about my life. And then, when I look at all the problems in the world, aware of how complicated and messy the issues of injustice really are, I frequently feel the same way. I just want to…
Black falls off my fingers. A dark coat of Truth covers me, my hands, all dirty. I am Too messy for this: the sacred Marking of penitents processing. Skin rubs skin, black in between Ash smeared upon holy, oily faces. The stream keeps moving. I am like a rock slowing the flow with redirecting, grounding. I proclaim:…
By guest blogger Amy Nee On Ash Wednesday in 2012 I heard: “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” – Isaiah 43:19 Last year, when I heard these words at the start of Lent I felt as though God was proclaiming them directly to me. Holding…
by Guest Blogger Emily Dawson I am writing this in a laundromat. I used to have my own wash machine and dryer, house and garage and lots and lots of counter space too–used to. Basically, life happened. And I will say that while washing, drying and folding your intimates in the privacy of your own home is…
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