It just struck me, right here, right now, at 6:30 in the morning, a week before Good Friday, that God does important things in gardens. It was a garden where he first placed people, and a garden where people first betrayed God. Later, God prayed in a garden while his friends slept, and when he was done, another friend came to betray him. I’ve been thinking about gardens because I am, like most of you, longing for spring. It’s been... Read more
I have, of late, been sad. I have lost a friend. No — not like that. I suppose it’s better to say I have lost a friendship. In the hot messiness that is humanity, that bubbling guck of relationships, where things get messy, somehow our relationship got mired down in hurt and silence. I miss her, and I am incredibly sad. There is a strange emptiness in the knowing that she prefers life without me, and I have no one... Read more
In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in. Romans 11:32 (MSG) Read more
Growing up, I had this strange dual image of God. On the one hand, he is kind and grandfatherly, ready to hand me a dollar for a treat when I go to the store and patting me on the head encouragingly when I figure out how to ride my bike. On the other, he is the male and omnipotent version of Mrs. Connors, my frightening third grade math teacher, ridiculing me for my every mistake and ready to chuck an eraser... Read more
I have been thinking a lot about privilege lately, and Fox news, and Isis. I’ve been thinking about white people and black people, gay people and the Bible, Anne Lamott and Rachel Held Evans and Hooters girls and Ferguson, and I keep thinking that we have it all wrong, we get furious at the wrong things, and cheer for other wrong things. I don’t know if I’m right all the time, but I understand that feeling right can get comfortable,... Read more
So I’m reading this amazing book called JESUS, A Pilgrimage by a Jesuit priest named James Martin. It’s freaking incredible. Aside from making me really want to go to Israel, this book is funny, approachable, and feels incredibly intimate — like I can peek in on the real life Jesus. The one who blew his nose and got blisters on his feet the first time he wore his summer sandals. (more…) Read more
Recently, my Facebook friend Idelette, editor of SheLovesMagazine.com posted this beautiful piece on her friend’s blog. It’s gorgeous, and touched me deeply. It doesn’t just speak to me, I commented on Facebook right after I read it. It speaks for me. When I commented on Facebook, I wrote out of a deep frustration and yes, even a tiny little bit of despair: (more…) Read more
Lately, I’ve become obsessed with miracles. The truth is, they happen every day. I believe that God wants us to open our eyes to them — because he’s throwing them down on our heads like raindrops in a hurricane, and we just totally miss them. Part of the reason we miss them is because we never believed for them in the first place. The past few months have been crazy busy for me (as evidenced by the lack of writing... Read more
Jerseygirl, JESUS
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