(Continued from the last two posts) So for the person of faith, after the damage comes forgiveness! For Christians it is part of , if not the central message: God in Christ has forgiven all we have done–past, present, future, and we are to do the same. It is called Grace! But how do I, a damaged human being live that, feel it, let it be the power in me that heals? For victims of collateral damage from clergy misconduct,... Read more
I am finding it hard to be writing about the collateral pain that occurs when leaders in the Church betray trust, even though I have been living with its effects in my own soul for for 25 years. But as I wrote last week (see previous post), it has pushed me to wrestle with my faith more deeply and to begin to be able to come alongside others in the community who struggle. What a surprise it was for me... Read more
In my 25 years in active ministry, clergy misconduct occurred in 3 out of my 4 calls. What the participants had in common was: -an unwillingness or inability to be self-reflective ... Read more
It’s the day to take a Big Breath: PENTECOST! Jesus breathed on them and said to them,”Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22 I am ready for fresh breathing, new winds, brisk energy. The practices and disciplines of Lent and Eastertide have made demands on my awareness and behavior. Although those practices have kept me close to the Source of All Being, I am ready for a fresh infusion of Grace and Power to... Read more
The Resurrection is just the beginning! Joy comes for the disciples of Jesus when they discover that he is risen, but he has told them that they will need to be the ones who bring that new reality to the world. Last Sunday’s gospel lesson from John reminds us the he has laid it out for them in the words of that last long conversation with them in the room where they were in preparation for the world turning upside... Read more
I am sending a shout out to those who have been formed in Spirit by mothering, and faithfully pass it on by the way they practice mothering! There may be no more active and steadfast facilitators of resurrection and new life than those who accept the calling of mothering and inhabit it, not only for the sake of those in need of care, but find in the vocation itself, the place where the Holy meets them, loves them, shapes... Read more
Wendell Berry makes me sit right up in my chair when he writes! In this season when I am listening hard for signs of Easter, his words from The Mad Farmer’s Almanac are really provocative: So friends, each day do something That won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing… Ask the questions that have no answer. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable… Be like a fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice... Read more
It has been hard this week to ferret out the audible signs of Resurrection! People I love are in pain from illness, loss, and grief. The Big Picture–world peace! political fragmentation! callous indifference to pain and oppression! systemic dysfunction and venality!– leaves my eyes “astygmatized,” my ears straining, when I am searching for new life and hope and joy. I remember a passage from Roberta Bondi, now Professor Emeritus of Church History, from Candler School of Theology, in her biographical reflection... Read more
The walking I did for my Lenten practice opened my ears. I heard such different things depending on where and when I walked. (And I am walking still!) Bird songs were amazing in their variety and cadence. Wind rushes ebbed and flowed, seeming to be in sync with the the clouds and the sun. And the walking gave me space to listen in my heart to sacred texts. As I listened to the Easter texts followed by the post-Easter texts,... Read more
Lent was very intense for me–great attention to practices, increased awareness of the suffering of the world, ongoing wrestling with what this walking in faithfulness to Jesus means. It is a grace to have completed that part of the journey for this year, and have a silent Holy Saturday to ponder in anticipation of what new thing God might be doing again in the world and in me, and then to enter the joy of Easter Sunday. I was asked to... Read more
A Musing Amma
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