When I was a child I developed the curious notion that virtue could be measured by whether or not stray animals gravitated toward a person. This idea came from the books I was reading at the time, mostly James Herriot and Madeleine L’Engle. In Madeleine L’Engle’s novels, stray animals were always appearing at characters’ doors, as a reward for their worthiness and as a comfort in difficult times. James Herriot’s stories were about the adventures of a country vet. It... Read more
Art by the sinister and perhaps possessed Brian Jocks. When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who... Read more
One of my favorite features at Sick Pilgrim is the monthly “Things Keeping Us Alive” post. A handful of people in the Sick Pilgrim community give me the names of what gives them a little bit of joy. What they write about can be very high-brow: a new icon, prayer, lecture, or book that causes them to connect to God or evaluate life in a whole new way; or they can be extremely low-brow (my favorite): things not necessarily remarkable... Read more
Today, teacher and writer Kristen Allen shares her reflections on the God-given right to education that all people share, and the obstacles that stand in the way of educational justice that she has witnessed in her 34 years as an educator. The Lord’s Answer to Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:2-4) I will climb my watchtower and wait to see what the Lord will tell me to say and what answer he will give to my complaint. The Lord gave me this answer: “Write down... Read more
Art by the fiery and thundering Brian Jocks. “The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” I first encountered Christianity at the age of nineteen. I was enthusiastic about the gospel, and wanted to learn. I searched for voices to teach me this Way. I did not know enough to know the difference between the voice of authority and the voices of the scribes. What is heard in... Read more
Caw-caw, caw-caw, I call out. Caw-caw, my son answers. I am standing in the kitchen finishing dinner, and my son (almost five) is sitting at the dining room table listening to a kids’ podcast and messing around with colored pencils. We have a running banter, my child and I, made of snatches of song and sound, lines from books and play on words. I’m calling out to him from my childhood, a “come and find me” crow call that my... Read more
Today in our Write the Vision series, author and farmer Rebecca Bratten Weiss shares her reflections on coming to intimately know the land of her childhood and how that land’s ravishment formed the backbone of her vision of God’s justice in light of Creation. Earth’s Delicate Balance When I was ten, we moved to an old abandoned farmhouse on a four thousand acre ranch and Christian community in eastern Ohio. The house sat on a hillside that... Read more
My breasts are cold because they are made of cold compressed air, contained by cold, hard plastic, and placed under my cold, stretched, nerveless skin. I can only feel them with my hands, from the outside, just like anyone else. If I tap on them, they sound hollow and I remember going to the tiny anthropology museum on the campus of the college town where I grew up. In the summer I would ride my bike the mile or so... Read more
Art by the flockin’ incredible Brian Jocks. As a lover of good stories, I recognize that the Bible is full of them, but I have a qualm about those stories: I don’t get excited by the ones where God is speaking directly to people and telling them exactly what to do. Jesus literally calls, and they follow. I take no comfort in these stories. And really, even if you had to do something you didn’t want to or got persecuted... Read more
At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet. The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth. So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” When Samuel went to... Read more
Sick Pilgrim
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In