When it's my time I want to know: what it feels like There are opportunities for second chances, but this isn't one. I want to know what it was like, before the morphine drip, dripping And the rockabye easing out I woke up in the world screaming What is it like to end?
Everyone Who Searches
And everyone who searches finds - maybe not the missing button, maybe an old note, yellowed photo with a missing corner. And you realize what you find is good enough, or better And the cardigan can do without mending - its gapping filled for now with a memory of summertime, or last year's loss - … Continue reading Everyone Who Searches
Like Paul, Like Kelly
Like Saul, Kelly Gissendaner plotted to kill the innocent. Like Saul, she was an enemy of the righteous. Like Paul, Christ spoke life into her and, because of her, many were saved. Like Paul, she was killed by the state. May we be like Paul, and like Kelly, and remember where we came from and … Continue reading Like Paul, Like Kelly
frost bitten
You'll be kind and never lose your temper and no one will misunderstand your jokes. You'll wake up early and listen to the mourning dove sing dooo dooo do-do-do low-high calling the new day good. You'll always have spare change for the panhandler at his median … Continue reading frost bitten
on suffering
If you're trying to resolve the problem of suffering and wrap it up in a neat little package, you'll only be disappointed by Christianity. Christianity doesn't answer that question. It dwells in the suffering. It acknowledges it, laments it, and looks for ways to reduce it, but it doesn't tell you why. A friend recently … Continue reading on suffering
review: Rachel Held Evans’ Searching for Sunday
Rachel Held Evan's Searching for Sunday is about church: its triumphs and failings, its hypocrisy and grace. Rachel, like me, grew up in a well-intentioned Evangelical community where the Bible is accepted as fact and the "plain truth" is within easy reach. It's a culture of black and white morality, where spiritual cliches are a … Continue reading review: Rachel Held Evans’ Searching for Sunday
Homily: Abide Here
The Reading (John 15:1-11): ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed* by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 … Continue reading Homily: Abide Here
Good Friday
In 2011, God was silent. I didn't stop believing, but I was numb. Numb like cold fingers in the middle of winter: on the brink of frostbite. I was terrified of losing the religion, the community, and the language of faith that had been central to my life as a child and young adult. The … Continue reading Good Friday
