“The soul, for me, is in everything in life. It is in all the beauty as well as in all the agony.” — Marion Woodman The other day, we celebrated. We gathered about 30 people together at a house across town and held a recital for these two girls that I’ve been giving guitar and vocal lessons to for a while now. It was a celebration of gift, a picture of relationship and of worship and of the evidence... Read more
Travis found this young husky sitting on a rock about eight years ago, and he lured that big wolf-dog to his car with an orange. Now, Sam is getting old. I’ve written about him before, about the way he knows what’s going on in our lives, the way he snuggles close to us and in ways I don’t understand, maybe teaches us a little bit about love and God. And so now I can see the signs, and I sat... Read more
We board a plane this morning and head to Missouri to spend some time with family for a week. This is the boys’ first flight as big kids, so I’m expecting a tantrum or two in between making spiders out of pipe cleaners and coloring pictures for the other people on the plane. Adventure is in the air, and we can sense it. We are nearly half-way through Lent, half-way to Easter, when I will feel my world gravitate back... Read more
“Sadly, some people wait until they have a heart attack or ulcers, or have a teenage child who gets into trouble, or until their spouse leaves them, or the like, to attend to their soul needs…But you don’t have to wait for disaster. You can open yourself to the possibility of nourishing your soul, and you can make it a priority.” –Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD Maybe this is a word about Lent, and maybe it’s not. The other night my... Read more
“The less time families have to prepare food or sit down at restaurants, the more convenience hovers over decisions about food, especially when there is an option that is easier. Dinner, which isn’t being cooked at home as often as it used to, is among the trend’s many casualties. Less than 60 percent of suppers served at home were actually cooked at home last year. Only 30 years ago, the percentage was closer to 75 percent.” -Roberto Ferdman, The Washington Post I’m still not sure... Read more
When I was young, I gave myself tally marks for everything, a good mark when I’d done what I was supposed to, a bad mark if I’d strayed the path and given God grief in the process. Some nights I’d lay in bed, worried about God’s heart toward me, writing in my journal every “I’m sorry for…” I could think of to get myself back in good standing again. As an adult, it’s taken me years and years and years... Read more
I listened to this podcast about a week ago, a conversation between Rob Bell and Celtic pastor J. Philip Newell. If you’ve got 30 minutes, give it a listen and let it work something out in you. I’ve been delving more into Native American spirituality, into Celtic spirituality, the way it draws us back around to ancient voices, and back to God in a new way. I’ve been thinking about our spirits and our souls and what they mean to... Read more
“…and the deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard was saying: ‘Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.'” –The Magician’s Nephew, CS Lewis Why can’t we just escape to Narnia, to see it from the beginning, to take in the magic of animals being birthed from the ground and trees sprouting up from nothing? I’d give anything to actually touch the soft and rugged fur on Aslan’s back, these stories mean so... Read more
Every week at our church, our pastor engages us in a moment of silence. You can hear the occasional cough, a child asking what’s going on– You can hear human breathing, our hearts beating out a steady rhythm. In the big sanctuary service yesterday, all of us were gathered together, and I saw the dust particles carry our prayers into the air, up to the ceiling, under the pews where we sat, right up to and against the stained-glass windows... Read more
Violence. Politics. Oppression. Money. Broken Religion. If there is something heavy this Lenten season, it is the heaviness of the world going mad, of politics that are backward and oppressing. It is a heaviness of pride and greed, a lack of compassion that shames and disparages. The world is heavy with tears and mourning, and I cannot bear it when I read the news or engage outside my own little space. So we let Lent be what it needs to... Read more
Stories - with Kaitlin B. Curtice
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