For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. (Luke 8:17, NKJV) I am one of those people that like attention and at the same time, I like hiding. It’s a weird dance that I go through. Carefully choreographed steps that lead me, two steps at a time, either toward the center stage or behind the curtain, backstage. I don’t think I am alone. I think we all... Read more
I saw a post today. And I felt compelled to respond. Normally, I wouldn’t, because the shenanigans of politics, and especially the discussions about war, are always circular and lack reason. I would much rather stare at cow pies in the field. I mean, if I am going to listen to shit, I might as well get all the senses involved—smell it, see it…I don’t need to touch it, though. That is not to say the sentiment itself is shit.... Read more
When I was little, every morning was unknown territory for me. I never knew which type of mood my mother was going to wake up with whether or not her energy would be energizing or draining, that is. Many times, it was a foul mood, and it affected my entire day. The mornings when she seemed happy to be awake were the days that all was right in the world. More threatening than the morning was the return home. Mom... Read more
Are you still grateful? There is a lot of shit going on in the world. Just moments ago, I read a report about a shooting/hostage situation in LA. A few days ago, a Christianity Today article shocked the nation with its lambasting of Trump. Impeachment proceedings, poverty, homelessness, terrorism, hatred, evil; all persist. The world is on fire. We didn’t start it. And nothing is burning in my house, currently, except for this lit cigarette. Outside, the world is chaos,... Read more
I am going to see Trump as a gift in this instance and put some new methods into practice. I apologize for the facetious title. But I needed to draw you in. I am not going to tell you that Trump is a gift because I believe he is the next chosen Messiah. Nor will I tell you that Trump is a gift because he’s revealing what a circus spectacle the government is (although, he is doing that, from my... Read more
What if what we define as “beauty” is specifically catered to our unique perspective alone? Whether it be just the compilation of our experiences archived in our memory that produce a resounding pattern of defining beauty, or, whether God intentionally crafted the beauty penetrations for our blueprint alone; beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. In the essay On Beauty and Being Just, Elaine Scarry perceives a similar idea— that beautiful objects have a way of seeming specially... Read more
For many years now, I have contemptuously voiced my disdain for New Year’s Resolutions. I mocked people for resolving to eat healthy or pay off debt simply because I thought it was an utter cliché that others only felt inclined to make changes in January. Some people spend three months talking about what they are going to do in January, and by March, they’ve given up. Sure, it’s easy to say to someone that you (claim) to love, “I told... Read more
Beauty is everywhere and evident to the naked eye, yet we seek out beauty through the strangest of methods. God has planted a luscious and verdant landscape of beauty for us to not only observe, but participate in. Yet we wait for advertisers—the “world”— to define what beauty is; what fashion runways reveal as the next greatest accessory to add to your wardrobe to make you feel beautiful. We are creatures that seek out love and beauty, thinking that which... Read more
December seems to be filled with not only brutally cold temperatures, but brutally cold self-doubt. I know, because even though a blanket keeps me warm on chilly days, sometimes, nothing warms my confidence. Let me be the first to set fire to that slow burning coal that you are too fearful to set ablaze. God qualified you. You are here for a reason. If you are being called to deliver a message, do it and don’t doubt yourself. It takes... Read more
I hear a lot of people talking about the need to save the church and there are plentiful ideas presented about how we should do that. There are a lot of great ideas out there but none of them scrape the surface of sex. That’s precisely what is missing from the sermons on Sunday—sex. Before you go prematurely reacting to the idea, I don’t mean that we should literally have sex during sermons. We should be having discussions about sex,... Read more
Danielle Kingstrom
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