How Belonging is Good for Our Health

Last updated on: January 23, 2024 at 10:44 am By Tricia Gates Brown

In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, author Malcolm Gladwell tells about a mid-century Pennsylvania town called Roseto.[1] In the 50s, this town was populated entirely of people who’d come from a single Italian village. A young medical doctor who came to know this Pennsylvania community was baffled by the low incidence of disease in the village—including heart disease, which at the time was rampant in the US. He arranged to have researchers study the town. They were surprised... Read more

Building Bridges to the Inner World

Last updated on: January 9, 2024 at 5:27 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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For a period eight years ago, my dreams grew loud. I would awaken to fragments of imagery that felt important; so I started writing them down. For over a year, I gleaned volumes from my dreams. Shadowy guidance, windows into my inner world, spiritual illumination, messages from guides. Then, I grew tired. Recording and analyzing dreams requires dedication and sometimes disrupts sleep. If I’m to remember my dreams, I must force myself to scribble notes in the middle of the... Read more

How Might Christians Invest in Peace Instead of War?

Last updated on: January 2, 2024 at 6:48 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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These days have me remembering a book from the early 2000s that impacted me—a book about war’s devastations and seductiveness. It is called: War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning (New York: Public Affairs, 2002). The author Chris Hedges had worked for years as a war correspondent from El Salvador to Bosnia; and in this book, he recounts those wars as a survivor who was also an outsider. As he sees it, war is indescribably vile and destructive. It... Read more

Mary Teaches Blessedness at Christ-Mass

Last updated on: December 23, 2023 at 7:16 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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In our Christmas morning lectionary reading, Mary is greeted by the angel Gabriel as “the favored one” or the blessed one, because Mary has been chosen to give birth to a son who will be a great savior to his people. Yet the story that follows is seemingly contradictory.[1] Mary becomes an unwed mother who was surely shamed within her culture. She gives birth in a barn among animals and is visited by shepherds, considered lowly members of society. In... Read more

Advent: An Invitation to Remove Obstacles to the Divine

Last updated on: December 16, 2023 at 6:58 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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Have you found yourself in such intense struggle you could barely find a path forward? All you could see were obstacles in your way? In Sunday’s lectionary passage, when John the Baptist says, “I am a voice crying out in the wilderness,” he is recalling a passage from Isaiah 40 when the prophet uses these same words. Isaiah spoke to Israel during a painful time of exile in Babylon. Led away as captives, they were forced out of their homeland.... Read more

3 Ways Religion Helps Us Embrace Complexity

Last updated on: December 11, 2023 at 5:42 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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{If you’d like to listen to this piece rather than read, click below on the photo/link to watch a video (~ 8 mins).} Something increasingly apparent to me in recent months is a lack of nuance in discussions of political positions or world events. Part of this is because the soundbites and snippets of social media can’t provide a full picture of what’s happening around an issue or in a certain part of the world. We feel pressed into amplifying... Read more

7 Best Faith-Based Christmas Songs By Pop Artists

Last updated on: December 4, 2023 at 4:08 pm By Tricia Gates Brown

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Arranging and sharing a Christmas playlist of the best faith-based Christmas songs in hopes they delights readers, brought me joy. I appreciated the challenge because I am picky about music, especially Christmas music! So here goes. Silent Night—Taylor Swift I begin with the inimitable Ms. Swift. Though she ranks at the top of pop artists, this song conjures her Americana days (think slide and acoustic guitar), with vocal stylings wholly Swift. “Silent Night” is among the most familiar Christmas songs,... Read more

How is God Coming Into Our World? A Reflection on Advent

Last updated on: December 1, 2023 at 3:37 pm By Tricia Gates Brown

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“Advent,” which means the arrival or the coming, is my favorite liturgical season. And yes, part of what’s coming is Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Jesus 2000 years ago. The rituals of this season build with anticipation and hope in a way both beautiful and centering—at an often busy time of year. Gradually, we light more and more candles, marking how Jesus came as ‘a light’ into the world. We decorate with evergreen boughs and trees, symbolizing the... Read more

The Subversive, Confrontational, Emboldening Stories of Christmas {Part Two}

Last updated on: November 28, 2023 at 8:33 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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{Perhaps my favorite thing about this season is reminding readers (and myself) how subversive are the Christmas stories. Before reading this column, I suggest you read Part One HERE.} The Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke[1] served as preludes, or overtures, to those gospels. They encapsulated in miniature the “good news” of the larger piece and are the lens through which to read it. For readers living under the weight of imperial violence, including systematic economic and religious oppression, spying,... Read more

The Subversive, Confrontational, Emboldening Stories of Christmas {Part One}

Last updated on: November 20, 2023 at 5:17 am By Tricia Gates Brown

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Perhaps my favorite thing about the Christmas season—just a few days away—is reminding myself and others how subversive are the stories of Christmas. Among global literature, they stand out as baldly subversive and anti-imperial while at the same time being neutralized. The gospel writers of Matthew and Luke (the only canonical gospels with birth narratives) each in their own way set up a stark confrontation between Jesus and the Roman Caesars, of all things—something no first-century reader would have failed... Read more

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