Tag Archives: spirituality

Advent Tuesday #4 | All is calm. All is weird.

That night there were homeless, abiding in the alleys and crevices of buildings, keeping watch over their assorted plastic grocery bags by night. And they weren’t your down-on-their-luck homeless who just need a stroke of good fortune and they’ll be back in a good job and an apartment again. No, these are the kind whoContinueContinue reading “Advent Tuesday #4 | All is calm. All is weird.”

Advent Monday #2

There is a line in an Advent song that sings like, “O Come, O rod of Jesse’s stem” And today’s reading is about the desert and the parched land and the steppe blooming “with abundant flowers.” But I’m just over here like, “Yeah, and I’ll bet that those were watered by our collective tears.” “MourningContinueContinue reading “Advent Monday #2”

Advent Sunday #1

I usually sleep straight through the night. This is a grace, I know, And I am thankful for the blessing. To readers with restless legs and insomnia: I’m sorry. But a few night ago I was startled awake. I looked around frantic, Trying to determine what had shocked me alert. Half-awake, I roughly brushed myContinueContinue reading “Advent Sunday #1”

My SIL says

“Lean into the Holy Spirit,” she says, over coffee, My sister-in-law of the flawless style. She’s the kind of woman who says things and you want to listen– Because of what? Compassion? Wisdom? A will to hard-love, if necessary? Yes, yes to these and more. Because she buys me gluten-free baked goods sometimes, too. “WhatContinueContinue reading “My SIL says”

Everything is overwhelming until you realize that God can be trusted

This phrase came to mind this week and I’ve been thinking about it a lot: Everything is overwhelming until you realize that God can be trusted. Because if God is who He says He is, then: He desires our well-being and He cares for us and He will give us good things. What is theContinueContinue reading “Everything is overwhelming until you realize that God can be trusted”

What if you didn’t know the Our Father?

In Christianity, there is a prayer given to us by Jesus. It’s called the “Lord’s Prayer” by some, but I hear it called the “Our Father” in Catholic circles, and so that’s what I call it here. Just so ya know. Not last weekend (Halloween/ All Saints Day), but the weekend before, I lost myContinueContinue reading “What if you didn’t know the Our Father?”

Living, dying, and both well

A few weeks ago, I met some old-but-far-flung friends halfway between their distant homes and mine. My friends, Lauren and Mica, are sisters; we’ve been friends since grade school for real, though. We drove out after work, exchanged happy greetings and unloaded at the farmhouse where we would be staying the night. And then, weContinueContinue reading “Living, dying, and both well”

“The best we have to offer”–A thought on ministry

Last summer I went and stayed at an all-girls Catholic sleep-away camp. For a week. Honestly, it was probably because they were short on helpful adult-chaperone-ladies, so I was asked by someone who knew someone and then, wouldn’t you know it: bam. A week in a cabin full of 13/ 14 year-old girls. Now, myContinueContinue reading ““The best we have to offer”–A thought on ministry”

La luna nublada

I was asked to share, at a meeting, what my experience in Philadelphia was like. So I wrote these jumbled words. Enjoy. ============================================================= The moment that sticks with me Is the moment, under the clouded moon, where they wouldn’t let me in to the gated-off city center, so instead I stood, shivering/ stranded/ crestfallen inContinueContinue reading “La luna nublada”