Reaching for the Salt-Shaker
The “pope’s table” at restaurant Bucca di Beppo came to mind as I mused on Katharine Jefferts Schori’s new book, Gathering at God’s Table: The Meaning of Mission in the Feast of Faith. As a Presbyterian Protestant alongside the work of an Episcopal-(Anglican Communion) Bishop, I’m smiling already at the collisions of theological etiquette in the image, but hear me out a bit. The table is the largest round table in the restaurant, available to be reserved for the largest parties who … [Read More...]
Trusting First — An Open Letter
To any and all within the geographical bounds of the Presbytery of the Miami Valley, the PCUSA: What is a person of faith to think or to do upon a felt-sense of darkness within a community that had previously been known as holy…one that appears now to instigate (even require, for some) actions of separation in perceivable fidelity to Whom or what one holds dear? Various ecclesial and cultural forces in my personal-professional worlds are colliding, and I have found myself prayerfully asking … [Read More...]
Untie the Strong Woman — a startled, affectionate review
Untie the Strong Woman may be the most unusual book I’ve read in the last ten years. Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, or perhaps we should say, Mother Clarissa, has offered those with ears and eyes to perceive meditations on the Holy Mother in her vast panorama of faces and names; a bridge of reflective wisdom between literati and rustic alike; and (for some who yearn for a bit of mothering themselves) a glimpse into at least one wild soul’s devotion and discipline set toward new life and hope … [Read More...]
A Trellis for Today’s Blossoming Artists
My grandmother’s backyard had an ancient trellis of faded white wood. The ivy my grandfather had planted near the house found it, eventually, creeping up the thin but sturdy slats. The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom is not unlike such a trellis. To be honest, I have only sampled and browsed it. I’m saving it for the hectic start of the semester, for a bit of regular, contemplative reminder about Life amidst busy lives. Here, I simply want to share what I … [Read More...]
Need-Driven Learning
[Please see “Kosher Project” for context and purpose of these postings.] I find myself struggling to articulate, when asked, what it is that I’ve learned as a Christian in my post-kashrut work. Not surprising, really, given everyone seems to be drawn to the practice of kashrut itself. If the inquisitor is Jewish, interest seems to come with a startlement or wary confusion about the intentions of the work and what kind of kashrut it could have been, given my clear identity as a Christian. … [Read More...]
Habits of Mind, Heisenberg, and Indeterminacy to Insight
[Please see “Kosher Project” for context and purpose of these postings.] So what is a Christian habit of mind? I now ask myself. When I set out to explore such things, I used the phrase “habit of mind” to refer to an accustomed way of thinking about liturgy, about spiritual practice. I wanted to become disoriented or de-habituated by means of a traditional Jewish practice in order to re-encounter my traditional ways of thinking in relief, in some new light. Habits take about 3 weeks to … [Read More...]
Summary Resistance
[Please see “Kashrut Project” for context and purpose of these postings.] It took a while, but I finally read through this entire kashrut-exploration project from start to finish. If I had a dime for every question that arose, I might be able to enjoy another week of vacation with my husband on the North Shore. It’s odd to re-read one’s own prose like that, but I’m also pleased with the record of experience(s). I can see some new directions in which to pursue further research. Good. … [Read More...]
Lent-en Tenacity to Easter
[Please see “Ongoing Research—Current Project” for context and purpose of these postings.] It’s always an Easter unlike any other. We enter into the expected and unscheduled liturgies of the week, thinking we know the story that drives one day to the next. And for many, it is just like that. Upon conclusion of this week, however, conclusion of this exploration that began as a crazy idea of a weary-academic, I am newly impressed with the tenacity of the human spirit. The drive it takes … [Read More...]
Loving and Leaving the Intersection
[Please see “Ongoing Research—Current Project” for context and purpose of these postings.] Today marks the day of one of the most ambivalent Christian habits of mind: a sacrificial dying for the sake of a received living. Not very eloquently written, perhaps, but each word and grammatical choice is significant. Ambivalent traditionally refers to an emotional state from being pulled in two directions, or a lack of expressiveness from feeling two contradictory emotions at the same time. It … [Read More...]
Losing Jesus…Again
[Please see “Ongoing Research—Current Project” for context and purpose of these postings.] I seem to have lost my Jesus again. This may sound like a strange statement, especially during Holy Week, but it is an impending liability for anyone who takes wisdom-walking into resurrection life seriously. After all, if the dead has arisen, if life is ultimately stronger than death, then every apparent truth has a locked opposite within it. Every ‘sure thing’ has a glimmer of uncertainty or … [Read More...]
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