WHEN ALL THAT IS LEFT IS JESUS

Last updated on: July 5, 2017 at 11:03 am By Kaitlin B. Curtice

Someone recently asked me, “Why on earth are you still going to church? You, of all people?” They were referring to my indigenous ancestors, to things like colonialism, genocide, enslavement, and violent conversions that were all practiced toward native peoples throughout the history of many parts of the world. They were referring to things like the Doctrine of Discovery, which gave Europeans, in the name of Jesus, the ability to take and claim whatever lands they “discovered” once they landed... Read more

When The Good Things Become Visible

Last updated on: July 5, 2017 at 11:00 am By Kaitlin B. Curtice

Mno waben. Mno waben. I held my three year old son in the early morning light, held him in the middle of my room as he stumbled in after waking up from his night of rest. We are learning our language, the language of the Potawatomi people, words that were carried for centuries by word of mouth and then put down on paper in a readable and writable language. The words carry so much in themselves. The stories, the imagery,... Read more

Do Not Be Afraid If God Is Not What You Expected

Last updated on: July 5, 2017 at 2:48 pm By Kaitlin B. Curtice

When we are young, we are taught to believe certain things about God— about what we can see, feel, understand. When, in fact, God is beyond our senses or our understanding. The church has been set up as an institution to hold those beliefs for us, to guide us in understanding them, but not always in questioning them. So what happens when we find out that God is not what we expected? We find that the world is far... Read more

To My Sisters Who Mourn on Mother’s Day

Last updated on: May 12, 2017 at 8:50 am By Kaitlin B. Curtice

Sister, I wish you could have been with us in that room, four walls surrounding a Hannah Service to acknowledge the grief of children lost, never born, sometimes not even named. We gathered because someone said she did not want to leave you out of this Mother’s Day experience, because you may very well be more deeply affected by it than others. Sister, I lamented with you, for you, because I have not known what it is like to lose... Read more

DEAR PRESIDENT TRUMP: an honest day’s work

Last updated on: May 10, 2017 at 8:34 am By Kaitlin B. Curtice

Dear President Trump, Today we worked in our garden. It’s an honest day’s work, fit for us. I consider it a successful day if I teach my children something new (or if I learn something new alongside them). I consider it a successful day if I can write about the things I care about, and if I do the things I’m passionate about. A successful day, for me, however, is different than a successful day for any number of the... Read more

JESUS & US: a shared wilderness

Last updated on: May 8, 2017 at 8:50 am By Kaitlin B. Curtice

Mark 1:4-12 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I,... Read more

That Night at the Monastery

Last updated on: May 2, 2017 at 11:35 am By Kaitlin B. Curtice

Last year I visited a monastery about an hour away from my city. I was there for a few nights for a staff retreat. It’s one of those thin places, where you feel yourself go from outside into an unseen womb, a haven of silent meals and monk’s prayers. While the rest of the staff continued conversations in the “talking room” through mealtime, I sat with my friend Dilshad in the silent room and we ate in complete quiet. At... Read more

The City Siren Song & Journeying Back to the Land

Last updated on: April 26, 2017 at 10:05 pm By Kaitlin B. Curtice

I need her– the land– though for a long time I’d forgotten why. It seems the city lights and sounds, a siren song, called me into an alternate reality. I stayed there for years, because I didn’t know better, and then she called to me again– the land. I took my boys to the Indian mounds here in Georgia, where we climbed stairs up to a plateau of grass overlooking the landscape. We could see factory smoke in the distance,... Read more

SEVEN GRATITUDES: life & death

Last updated on: April 21, 2017 at 8:16 am By Kaitlin B. Curtice

{Seven Gratitudes is a lovely link-up I participate in some Fridays with my dear friend, Leanna. Head over to her blog for wonderful lessons and beautiful, honest writing.} This week, two people (that I know of) in this world committed suicide. One was someone I didn’t know, but have connections to his work, and the other was a friend from my youth. I would never presume to decide what happened in the world to lead to their decision, nor would I attempt... Read more