In recognition of my and Daniel’s 17th wedding anniversary this weekend, I’m reposting this piece, slightly edited, from last year. Daniel and I have a bunch of good wedding ring stories. There’s the story about Daniel going to buy my engagement ring. (Actually, to exchange the ring he bought for his first fiancée for a bigger, nicer ring for me. But that’s a whole other story.) Daniel bought my ring at Mervis Diamond Importers in Washington, D.C., where he was waited on by none... Read more
My daughter tells me that when I’m not at home, our dog (whose name is Sunday) wanders around looking for me. She sniffs all the places where I can usually be found, like the dining room window seat, the kitchen, or the den. She wanders, restless, when she can’t find me. While Sunday loves pretty much anybody, she has clearly chosen me as her special person, which is likely less a reflection of my upstanding character and more due to the... Read more
A few months ago, I tweeted this: “Reason #437 I love being an Episcopalian: No one knows who Mark Driscoll is, much less why he’s apologizing.” Driscoll is a popular Seattle-based evangelical pastor, known in part for his complementarian opinions on sex and marriage (i.e., the view that God calls men and women to complementary but distinct roles in marriage, family, and public life). Driscoll likes his men macho, his women submissive, and his books on the best-seller list. His... Read more
In church on Sunday, we sang one of my favorite hymns, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” I particularly love the final lines of the final verse: Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, O, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. “Prone to wander.” Quite an understatement, isn’t it? Yes, we’re prone to wander. I’m also prone to running away after having a nice temper tantrum... Read more
To my 16-year-old self: When people tell you that your scars are a kind of beauty mark, that they don't even notice your physical impairments any more, that you are beautiful and loved, believe them. Believe them the first time they say these things, and every time after. Read more
I’m not necessarily opposed to three-parent embryos. But I am opposed to sanctioning this technology, and others like it, without first considering the actual moral conundrums they raise, not the well-meaning but ultimately immaterial ones so often discussed in articles like this one. Read more
The important question isn't whether we should or shouldn't acknowledge Independence Day in church. The important question is whether we believe that with God all things are possible, including the redemption of our nation, in all its brokenness and all its promise. Read more
If I were to become pregnant again, there is enormous potential for another harrowing birth and permanent damage to my body and ability to do the things that I love, want, and need to do. That potential means that I would seriously consider having an abortion. I know I don't want to face that decision. And I know that a tiny boomerang of hormone-infused plastic ensures that I haven't had to, and won't have to, make such a decision. This is why I feel like my IUD is saving my sanity, my family, my very life. Read more
In May, I published an essay for OnFaith about finally realizing, after years of guilt, that wanting and having a comfortable, attractive home is not necessarily un-Christian. The essay, later published in the print edition of the Washington Post, got lots of responses from readers thanking me for tackling a question that many Christians, particularly those committed to social, economic and environmental justice, struggle with: Is it okay to enjoy material things simply for the pleasure and comforts—physical, relational, psychological—they... Read more
I believe the universe, or more precisely, its creator, wants to be noticed. In noticing life and love and healing and connection and resurrection and redemption, and naming those occurrences for what they are, we witness to the God who made a world in which such everyday miracles are not just possible, but inevitable. Read more
Ellen Painter Dollar
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