$*^! Jesus Says: The Christmas Shopping Edition

Last updated on: November 27, 2013 at 3:11 pm By Erin Wathen

An open letter (because the blogging world freakin LOVES open letters) to the American Family Association: Dear Affluent Straight White (Mostly Male) Christians: Nobody is persecuting you. And I mean, nobody. Encouraging Christians to boycott Radio Shack because the retailer features a “holiday” greeting instead of ‘Christmas’ wishes, is like refusing to wear pants because it’s cold outside. Or something. Here’s the thing: Jesus never in his life said, “Merry Me-smas.” He never meant to drum up a following, he... Read more

More, Enough, and Plenty

Last updated on: November 25, 2013 at 1:30 pm By Erin Wathen

For Monday of Thanksgiving week, I’m sharing some narrative biblical snapshots of the many ways in which God answers the human fear of scarcity with the sacred promise of abundance. For some great extended reading and reflection, I highly recommend Walter Bruggemann’s “The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity.” Blessings as you practice gratitude this week, and “witness to the manna” of all God is doing in our lives, our families, and our congregations. The people of God wandered... Read more

Til Everyone’s Doing It

Last updated on: November 20, 2013 at 7:26 am By Erin Wathen

I received a pretty unpleasant email this morning; and I’m sure a few hundred of my colleagues did too. It was from a man in Illinois who is deeply disturbed by the ‘all means all’ resolution that came out of the Disciples of Christ General Assembly. He sent a message to, I’m assuming, pastors whose contact info he could find online. He’s heard that “everybody’s doing it.” That all Disciples congregations now let LGBT people into membership and leadership. Using... Read more

Guarding the Feast

Last updated on: November 19, 2013 at 9:42 am By Erin Wathen

As I settle into a new ministry in the Kansas City area, I’m getting to know the community. An important part of that is finding out what non-profits and service organizations are already doing for those in need. When I moved to Phoenix 7+ years ago, I did the same thing. I flitted happily about town, handing out business cards, collecting brochures, making bff’s with community relations folks in the various helping professions. For the most part, I found the... Read more

The Real War on Marriage

Last updated on: November 12, 2013 at 3:19 pm By Erin Wathen

I know, I know. I just wrote a piece on marriage. However—it got heavy traffic, which tells me that marriage is on many people’s minds, a lot of the time. And it’s on mine again today. So, here you go. I may be the only person you know who flips the car radio back and forth between Christian radio and NPR. And that’s a post for another day, but meantime; I was on said Christian radio station today, and heard... Read more

$*^! Jesus Says: The Dumb Questions Edition

Last updated on: November 6, 2013 at 1:34 pm By Erin Wathen

You have heard it said that there are ‘no stupid questions, only stupid answers.’ But Verily, I say unto you—there are plenty of stupid questions. And people in the Bible ask them alllll the time. In fact, the gospel writers use those dumb-question-having people in order to frame an important teaching or activity of Jesus. So in fact…perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to judge those who do the asking. It could be they are totally on-script: a staged interview... Read more

Rushing the Season

Last updated on: November 5, 2013 at 3:44 pm By Erin Wathen

Every year, I rant and rave when the stores haul out the xmas stuff before they’ve cleared out the back to school aisle. I engage in some good-natured banter with friends who LOVE the October carols on the radio. (But it’s all good, Peter, cause at least we agree that bourbon is always in season). I wait, diligently, to hang so much as a branch of evergreen, until the Saturday after Thanksgiving. And the ^*@# Elf on the Shelf knows not... Read more

Halloween: An Opportunity to Learn “Enough”

Last updated on: October 31, 2017 at 5:27 am By Erin Wathen

I followed a sparkly red lady bug and a plush green dragon down the street. Nevermind it was October 31. It was about 100 degrees outside, and the plush, fuzzy, cozy costume—which would have been just swell in some chilly autumn Midwestern burrow—was utterly ridiculous in the desert. But dang, he was adorable. We’d just moved from one desert suburb to another… just a few miles apart, but worlds away. The place we’d been the previous year—with a two-year-old witch... Read more

A Blankedy-Blank Preacher

Last updated on: October 29, 2013 at 12:09 pm By Erin Wathen

Let me tell you about the worstest sermon I have ever preached. I would venture to say it was possibly the worst sermon ANYone has ever preached, but …we know that’s not true. At least my rotten sermon didn’t do actual harm to people. That said, it didn’t do any good either. It was about 3 years ago. I had just come back from maternity leave after having my second baby. Right around the time I went back to work—my... Read more

Good China, Good Sleep, and Sexpectations: 10 Truths from 10 Years of Marriage

Last updated on: February 14, 2016 at 9:14 am By Erin Wathen

We are celebrating 10 years of marriage this month. 10 years, 2 kids, 1 dog, 2 cross-country moves, countless road trips, several bad hair cuts, more than a few miscommunications, and more West Wing marathons than we’ll ever tell… Just to be clear: my marriage is not perfect, nor do I pretend it is on Facebook; I don’t parade it through the sanctuary as the ‘life as it should be’ lesson, and I don’t claim the ability to fix people who... Read more