Coloring Outside the Lines - Page 2 of 5 - One woman’s journey of learning to ask the hard questions, and laugh a little bit, too.

Running toward Love with Matt Boswell

October 30, 2018 By Cara Meredith

Years ago, my path crossed with a man named Matt Boswell. Now we’re both not-so-young anymore and we’ve traveled on the path of life and perhaps changed a little bit along the way too. Regardless, it’s always an honor to showcase the words of other writers, so today I’m delighted to introduce you to Matt. His new book, The Way to Love, is just lovely …and necessary in a world that sometimes filled with more hate than love. As always, leave… Read more

Those Storms

October 26, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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I can’t stop thinking about those storms, How we’re all fighting one, How we keep clinging to hope In the midst of fighting winds. I can’t stop thinking about those storms, How it’s not always about calming the waves, But it’s about peace and stillness and rest In the boat with us. I can’t stop thinking about those storms, How I beg for respite from crashing tumult, But maybe that’s not even the point In the first place. … Read more

A Little Bit of Holy in Target Aisles, Thanks to Ashley Hales

October 23, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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Oh friends, have I got a TREAT for you today: it’s book launch day for a very special friend of mine. Ashley Hales and I have known each other for a couple of years now, to a time when both of us wondered if this whole writerly life could actually be a thing. It’s been a GIFT to see the book written on her life then launch into this world for the rest of us to read and enjoy. Like me,… Read more

You Saw Me

October 19, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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O Lord, you see me and you know me, You saw me when I was up at three this morning, When my mind race with possibilities, when I couldn’t pinpoint the problem, when I wondered if the darkness would ever go away. O Lord, you see me and you know me, You saw me when the destruction was tangible yesterday, When hurt splayed itself around the room, when anger scribbled across the page, when “I don’t know, I don’t know,… Read more

The Holiest of Moments (and a Thank You, Carly Gelsinger)

October 16, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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For most of the world, it was just another Saturday in April. But for me, it was the start of something new. It was the holiest of moments. It was life found beneath a dome under cloudy Seattle skies – when I couldn’t tell the difference between the water and tears that trailed down my face, when I closed my eyes and uttered ancient prayers spoken by thousands of tongues. The records show that I became an Episcopalian that day,… Read more

Holy Interruptions + Dr. King, Again

October 12, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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I can’t seem to stop thinking about holy interruptions – perhaps because life, in general, feels marked by interruption. So, this last Sunday I preached about it, again. I’m sensing a theme… It first hit me this summer when I sat with the text from Mark 3: Jesus was King of the Interruptions. He was an interruption to his family, to his friends and to those who weren’t quite so fond of his actions, his politics and his claims -… Read more

Identifying Privilege, Circa Amy Julia Becker

October 9, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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It’s no mistake that two friends, of two different perspectives, launched two very important books in back-to-back weeks. Last week, you read about privilege from a black, Christian, southern woman writer, Natasha Robinson, and this week you’ll read about privilege from a white, Christian, southern and northern woman writer, Amy Julia Becker. No matter the color of your skin, it’s imperative that we identify and talk about the roots of privilege and supremacy …and for many of us, identifying our privilege… Read more

You Be You, You Do You

October 5, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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I heard a simple rabbinic story yesterday that stopped me in my tracks: “Before his death, Rabbi Zusya said, ‘In the coming world, they will not ask me: ‘Why were you not Moses?’ They will ask me: ‘Why were you not Zusya?'” The room was silent when the instructor finished reading the story, so quiet you could have heard a pin drop had we a bowl full of pins to drop in the first place. But the message was clear: be… Read more

Poetic, Prophetic Truth-telling with Natasha Sistrunk Robinson

October 2, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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Well friends, I’ve got a TREAT for you today. Oftentimes, learning to color outside the lines means learning to pay attention to every voice, including voices that have been marginalized and silenced. I am delighted for you to catch a glimpse of the poetic, prophetic words of my friend Natasha Sistrunk Robinson and her new book, A Sojourner’s Truth. It’s part memoir, part theology, and ALL truth every single one of us needs to hear. Check it out! — — Tell us a… Read more

The Rest of Us Get to Listen

September 28, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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I was in the seventh grade when a teacher asked me if I wanted to launch an official complaint of sexual harassment against a classmate. I was fourteen years old when a stranger stared at me lewdly, when he looked me up and down and offered me free admission to his bar. I was a freshman in college when a boy didn’t listen when I asked him to stop. I may have been drinking and I may have been lying… Read more