There’s something known to be proven in my experience of being in community. If people gather together in a space and are asked to share their story over a bowl of chili, something holy will happen sooner or later. You find all these connections between yourselves, and somehow the whole world brings itself to your corner. Our church launched Koinonia Groups this week, and ours met for chili in our little place. Some of us are vegetarians and some are... Read more
I gauge my happiness by my comfort, by my lack of worry– A few months ago, I struggled for a few days with renewing the insurance for the boys. Someone had checked a wrong box on a computer somewhere, and I was on the phone for days trying to find the right person to fix it. The worry that loomed over me because of a simple wrong click in the system was constantly palpable. It is our American poverty to... Read more
This morning, way before the sun was up, the birds were conversing. It was a heavy conversation, this back and forth chirp and song, like they were trying to wake up the world from sleep with their news. I don’t know what day Easter really happened on, but I can feel its pulse inside of us today. The pews of the church are a little fuller on this day, because we are looking for hope, we can feel the world shift... Read more
“Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.” –Helen Keller When I was young, I was too scared to wander off. I stayed close to everyone, stayed close to every safe zone, never took chances, rarely asked questions. When I met my husband, he was a mystery to me, because he was wide open. He’d sought adventure, lived by the Spirit in ways I didn’t quite understand. I could have married someone afraid like me, and we would have... Read more
Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He guideth me in straight paths for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence... Read more
“Do we wish to bring forth a world of scarcity, fear, competition, war, or will we choose to vivify the seeds of abundance, confidence, generosity, and peace in our hearts and in our communities? It is our choice.” “The Peacekeeper sees all in good relationship, perceiving the underlying unity of all creation.” –Dhyani Ywahoo Yesterday Eliot and I went on a date. I took him to Dr. Bombay’s Underwater Tea Party- and yes, it’s just as fabulous as it sounds.... Read more
“God’s inexhaustible poetry comes to me in five languages: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste.” –David Steindl-Rast Jesus, We forget that at one time You ate bread and tasted olives, that You saw dirt roads and tired faces, that You smelled oil and sweat, that You touched blind eyes with mud and spit, that you heard the cry of newborns and the last breath of the aged. We forget that Your humanity makes us like You, that there is a... Read more
“When I speak of God, I mean this kind of love, this great yes to belonging. I experience this love at one and the same time as God’s Yes to all that exists. In saying yes, I realize God’s very life and love within me.” –David Steindl-Rast I had a little break between guitar and voice lessons, so I parked in a tiny parking lot and went straight to the swing next to the outdoor fireplace. It wasn’t what I... Read more
“I still question how we see God, how we use God. Our society acts as if God is something that’s carved in stone, making God static so that we feel more secure.” –Anne Wilson Schaef If God has character anything like Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, we know that safety and security may not be the top priorities in our interactions with the holy. And as much as that scares us all, isn’t it freeing to know that we are... Read more
” True work is about enchantments.” –Eckhart “All work is meant to be heart work: it comes out of our heart and goes to the heart. All authentic work is an effort to move other people’s hearts.” –Matthew Fox Sometimes we ask Eliot what God is speaking to him, and he will stop a second and look at us and say, “He tells me to make people pictures when they are sick or sad.” Now, a toddler may or may... Read more
Stories - with Kaitlin B. Curtice
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