Approaching Wisdom With Emptiness: Two Characters from John

Last updated on: May 28, 2024 at 7:09 am By Tricia Gates Brown

This week in my tradition we read the story about Nicodemus. But I can’t think of this story, without also thinking about the next chapter of John and the story it features—about the woman from Samaria. These stories and their juxtaposition are strategic; and they are all about contrast. We understand Nicodemus better because of the woman from Samaria. And we understand this woman better because of her contrast with Nicodemus. The author of John frequently paints contrasts. At times... Read more

Bridging Distance: Discovering the Joys of Audio-Messaging

Last updated on: May 22, 2024 at 7:08 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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A friend I’ve known for 25 years, who lives on the other side of the country, invited me to communicate in a new way—by audio text. At first, she would send a 5 to 8-minute message as she paused in her day, telling me about a recent excursion she’d taken, or something she’d written. And I would respond by typing out a traditional text. I was reluctant to adopt the new practice, being that I’m generally taciturn. But after a... Read more

Happiness is Bite-Sized: Finding Joy in Simple Moments

Last updated on: May 14, 2024 at 7:17 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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Today I played Kate Rusby’s ‘Hourglass’ and was transported to years living in St. Andrews, Scotland at the close of the millennium. Those two years were seriously hard—not least because I was often ill. But the sad songs on that album ring gladness for me. A fiddle-pipe duet on ‘Annan Waters’ sends shivers, it’s so beautiful—even if the tune, like most English folk songs, is tragic, narrating the story of a woman who drowns, never again to see her love.... Read more

Love Beyond Our Species: Relationships that Challenge Ego

Last updated on: May 11, 2024 at 8:03 pm By Tricia Gates Brown

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Someone famous said having children is like having your heart run around in someone else’s body. Then here’s this heart of mine, frolicking off in the runt-body of a barn kitten I’d name “Eloise”—a creature barely the size of a rat. Love is always risky, but the perils of falling for something so vulnerable seem pronounced. With kohl lining around her eyes like an Egyptian queen, and orange-and-white candy-striped legs, Eloise is the most beautiful cat I’ve seen. The rest... Read more

9 Ways Humans Can Know God

Last updated on: April 29, 2024 at 7:08 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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To what extent can humans know and understand God? a reader asks. In answering, I start at the beginning. These 9 ways are not prioritized, but they do move from the first to the second half of life and the thread of incarnation runs through them. Everything we experience of God is embodied, en-fleshed. Even our contemplative reverberations occur in the cells our spirits inhabit on this Earth. This reality, this fact of human existence, is appreciated by all traditions... Read more

Reverend Taylor and the Church of Swifties

Last updated on: April 27, 2024 at 5:08 pm By Tricia Gates Brown

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For many millennials (not to mention others), Taylor Swift is a religious experience. One such person calls me Mom. My daughter—the same age as Swift—drove the backroads of rural Tillamook County blaring Swift’s earliest albums from a beat-up sedan that won ‘Worst Car’ her senior year. To daughter Madison, Swift comes close to perfection. Deciphering the genius and intent of her songs, the closest thing she has to religion. Her attendance of Taylor’s Eras Tour last year was her observance... Read more

What Makes Us Human: On AI and the Human Animal

Last updated on: April 15, 2024 at 5:59 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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Since the release of ChatGPT[1] a little over a year ago, many have posed the question: What makes us human? It’s turned over many times in my own mind. Pondering this deeply, I’ve decided that what makes us human is the same as what makes us animal. We may be different from computers in certain important ways, but in those areas of distinction from machines, we are much like non-human animals. I think that’s a wonderful thing! For most of... Read more

Living in Hope of Renewal: On Arendt and Easter Season

Last updated on: April 8, 2024 at 6:59 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” ― Barbara Kingsolver In 2017 after Trump became president, I started reading Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism. The book felt chillingly heartbreakingly shatteringly timely. At the moment, many viewed parallels between Trump’s ascendance and historical ascensions of authoritarianism... Read more

Why Humans Do Ritual: Finding Meaning in Everyday Practice

Last updated on: April 6, 2024 at 4:13 pm By Tricia Gates Brown

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I didn’t intend to become a spokesperson for tradition. Of those who know me best, I doubt any would describe me as traditional. But along the way, I’ve become attached to the idea that we need tradition, which some find perplexing as I’m so questioning and critical of my own (Christianity ala Episcopalianism). Last month, two friends asked why I stay. The subtext of the question being: What is the use? As my friends’ questions suggest, tradition is not well... Read more

Understanding Human Motivations: Spirit, Ernest, and Ozempic

Last updated on: April 6, 2024 at 4:14 pm By Tricia Gates Brown

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Of late, I am wooed by Ernest Becker, specifically his book The Denial of Death, published in 1974. A mid-century anthropologist, Becker wrote powerfully about the things that motivate modern people. Our greatest motivation, according to Becker is denying we’re all headed for the grave. On the podcast The Gray Area, Sean Illing summarizes Becker’s work in one concise statement: “The big thesis [of Becker’s work] was that the majority of human behavior is driven by an unconscious desire to... Read more