You and I are “other” to each other, foreign creatures, locked in our independent skin. You and I, we’re unnerved when we’re together, we’re fractured, disconnected, thin as moth-wing. And yet, the same stuff that tears us from each other gravitates us to each other, and all along, the earth keeps spinning to help us shake the regret-dust from our shoulders. I cannot assume you, and you cannot assume me. And yet, we began in the same womb of thought,... Read more
At church this last Sunday, Peter, our guest speaker, asked us to take a moment of silence and think of the things we are grateful for. It had been a while for me, a while since I’d made a list like this. But I wrote for a few short minutes: I’m thankful for… Goosebumps. Worship. My boys. Community. My husband. This church space. The Spirit of God. Usually around this time of year, people on Facebook start their thankfulness campaigns, each... Read more
Dear President-Elect: This morning, I lay in bed beside my three year old as my husband explained to my five year old in the next room that you will be our next president. Our oldest son has watched you closely these past months. He has called you a bully, a man with a hateful attitude. But here we are, and congratulations to you. Please know that a fire has been lit. It has been lit by children who refuse to... Read more
In the course of the last week, I have witnessed Native Americans fight for water and the rights to land and have taken part it in from afar; I have seen Brian McLaren speak on the spiritual migration of the church, and I have taken part in an evening of songs and dialogue about humans’ relationship to the earth and responsibility to care for it. And on Sunday at the end of the church-work morning, we went to a powwow and... Read more
Last Friday I attended a cabaret show at our church- a fabulous dinner around bottle-lit tables and Cole Porter tunes. I suppose I was the youngest one there besides my four year old dinner date, which gave me a wonderful perspective for the evening. As the jazz songs that I’ve always loved played on, I watched as smiles and memories flashed across the faces in the room around me. I remembered that this was a moment to be treasured. To be... Read more
Last week at church, I sat in the midst of a discussion about the will of God. We took turns telling our stories, sharing our points of view, discussing whether or not we can hold the will of God for another person, and what the will of God means for each of us. Inside, I told myself over and over again that God is not culture. Because what we know in our churches is that God is good and Jesus is just,... Read more
Eliot ran into the kitchen with his hand over his heart as I finished washing the dishes. “Mom, you’ve GOT to see this! It made my heart cry, because I’m so happy.” We all met in the office, where Travis pulled up a video of someone “hunting” the aurora borealis, the northern lights. We watched as the screen glowed vibrant green, pink, purple, and yellow. We saw an item added to our four-year-old’s life bucket list, a future dream to see... Read more
In the mornings when we wake up, we set our feet on the cold wood floors of our rented home nestled deep in a community-neighborhood in the middle of our city, and we embark on the good work of our day. We take things slow and steady, and because one child is a morning person and one is a night owl, every sunrise is a little bit different, a little unsteady, a little challenging. But we’ve chosen our way and we will... Read more
I turn twenty eight this week. Last Sunday at church all the songs I led for worship echoed the seasons, the way our lives shift and change and become something different every now and then. We all remembered there in that space that if life is one thing, it is not boring. And every year we are reminded of those seasons on the one day that celebrates that moment we were born, that space where we entered into the world... Read more
I can count a handful of times in my life that I’ve felt truly unloved. From what I’ve known of it, it is a deep hole, a penetrating wound that aches in you and eats at you until you can find something that will take you out or away, or at least distract you for a while. But most of my life, I’ve been a loved one– my mom and I are close, and with my husband’s family I have found so much comfort... Read more
Stories - with Kaitlin B. Curtice
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