Crazy connections. As usual, I start writing here as a way to process my thoughts and the things going on in my head and heart and typically I have no Idea where any of this is going when I sit down to put pen to paper (or in this case finger to key). I have been binge watching American Idol today. It’s snowing and it’s just a great day to sit here and do nothing…
So, I’m sitting in my office planning ahead to some of the sermons leading up to Easter and I went into a rabbit hole. I want to share it with you and reflect a little bit on the past couple of months. Three places in the Bible make reference to sitting under a vine and fig tree. Those are 1 Kings 4:25, Micah 4:4, and Zechariah 3:10. In the first two they are images of…
Time to change something. Time to step out into the unknown and do something new. Time to leave comfortable choices and easy decisions behind. That time has come for me, and I thought I would share a few thoughts about this season that I have been mostly silent about up till now. There is so much to tell that honestly I am a bit at a loss for where to begin. Let me begin with…
I’ve noticed a flurry of social media posts about Target lately. They always seem to be in the crosshairs of some of my Christian friends. It seems that they are selling merchandise with pictures of Satan and pro LGBTQ items. So some people I follow on Social media want to stop giving them their money. We vote with our dollars. And If you don’t like something you certainly don’t have to buy it. But I…
Let me share with you my past twelve hours or so. Last night I spent about thirty minutes talking with a friend about the ways that the church has hurt her. And by the church I mean that institution that far too often leans toward self protection, ideology, prejudice, and authoritarian structure. I don’t necessarily mean a poorly defined group of broken, messy people who are all just trying to look a little bit more…
I know that posting this might unsettle a few of my Truly Reformed friends. By those I mean the people who memorize and quote the catechisms to answer every question. You are committed to truth and consistency. It may also unsettle some of my more committed evangelical friends. The people I love who are committed to abandoning anything that smacks of “dead ritualism,” because you grew up in a tradition that repeated meaningless acts regularly…
There is a simple need that we all hunger for deep down inside. It is the need to be right. The very best of us just need to be right, the worst of us need to be “more” right than someone else. It’s super confusing though, because we define right in lots of different ways. I mean there is football guy who knows the stats and knows who is likely to win the next game……
You watch the news, and you see the statistics about the terrible, unspeakable things that happen in our world. Child Sexual Abuse, Cancer, Human Trafficking, and Mental Illness all make the news and get people on the television talking sometimes. The stats are memorable. One out of every four women have been subject to sexual assault. 1 in 10 children faces sexual abuse. 1 out of 25 Americans have a serious mental health disorder. And…
I am a pretty huge Indigo Girls fan. I actually still binge on the indie music I listened to in the 90’s. On the way to work this morning, I wanted to listen to something from my favorite album, Rites of Passage. But of course, Amazon recently changed their settings, and I can no longer just listen to the music I want to without a premium subscription. And by the way, sorry Amazon, you got…
It’s cooling off time in North Dakota. We are in the middle of an all day cold rain. They call these storms “Colorado Lows.” I’m not sure why, but I assume its some sort of low pressure system coming out of Colorado. If that’s not why it’s called that, then somebody really choose that name poorly, because I can’t be the only one who thinks the name has something to do with the thing itself.…