adventures in faith, home, & keeping the earth
Musings in making and finding Home in this wild and wonderful world.
Sometime in the early weeks of preaching class last spring--I want to say it was merely the second week of class--Dr. Miles gave us 24-hours to write a sermon that we would, absolutely, preach to our colleagues.
And said sermon would, absolutely, only be a minute long.
Sometimes you can’t see unless you know to look.
Out the back windows of our new apartment is a great expanse of trees.
For an urban complex, any bit of wilderness nearby is a lucky thing. The swaying trees or purple skyline have swept the breath from my lungs quite a few times as I rounded the corner into the study or looked up from my reading.
The woods are nestled in a deep ravine and they boast an assortment of arboreal varieties. I am barely on the cusp of learning the names of these limbed friends, but I would be abashed not to recognize the three great Birches. Their white trunks stand tall and stark in the midst of the deep greens and browns of the little forest.
Sometimes the brilliant red Cardinals and their sully mates will flit here and there, landing on the glaring Birches and showing off Creation’s glory. They ought to be the ones to do it too, pretty things.
A pastor and a seminarian walk into a mosque via separate doors and in stockinged feet.
She, the seminarian, was greeted by smiling eyes and colorful, fluttering veils. Laughter propelled her through the great room’s threshold.
The pastor, from the male entrance, observed flurries of activity and the excitement from those on left and right.
Neither knew exactly what to do.
Read MoreA musing prayer on the matter of Christmas. | God, One Who Dwells Among Us, I am thankful for the Story of Your nativity. It is such a wonder to behold Jesus entrusted to the care of creation—to Mary’s body and Joseph’s arm. To both their wisdom...
Read MoreOver and over again these past few weeks in divinity school I have gotten a rush. It has happened in each of my classes, first in New Testament and then most recently in Christian Theology.
I feel excited. Pulled. Rooted. On fire. Extremely curious.
Most imminently, I feel like I am learning something that was meant to be mine all along.
I feel like a muggle’s kid at Hogwarts and it is amazing
Read MoreToday is Aaron's first ordination day, and, around here, that is cause for celebration. It is kind of like a birthday, kind of like a--well, I don't know. It's his ordination day. Whoop whoop!
Read MoreA poem. |
My eyes are fire and water
Passion for justice
Tears of repentance
Resolve to do both
There is no justice, no equity, no love without repentance—
The amending, the turning, the changing of my mind
Read MoreI don’t know about you, but faithfulness is harder when success seems impossible. What is the point in working hard for social justice if human groups are not capable of wholeness in the first place (as Niebuhr seems to think)?
What is the point of faithfulness if my community does not change for the better, when nothing seems to make any real difference?
Read MoreI began a month of transition and goodbyes.
I prepared to pass the mantel to the new youth pastor and looked forward to co-leading the annual beach retreat with him at the end of the month.
I started noticing “last time” moments at home, with community, and at church. I made dates with my favorite Atlantans.
Aaron and I travelled to secure housing near my seminary in North Carolina and started collecting boxes for our move.
And then, at 8:00 p.m. on July 4th, we received the news that my husband’s paternal grandmother had died.
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