I am grateful tonight for a lovely time spent with my relatives David and Dawn. (David is my grandpa’s first cousin. So that makes him my . . . ) I last saw them about thirteen years ago when my husband and I visited New York City and stayed with them in New Jersey. I…
I’ll be honest about the Faith Forum column below: I just started writing “religion isn’t” statements and then quit when I hit the 300 word limit. But I could have kept going. I think next on my list would be: “Religion isn’t optional.” It was interesting that the other pastor who responded to this prompt…
This was my contribution to the Faith Forum column in the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper for Saturday, October 9, 2010. I’m posting it here for the benefit of at least one person who missed it in the paper and wanted to read it. The prompt–“religion isn’t”–seemed random, but proved to be an interesting topic. Religion isn’t…
I have a source inside Disney World who shared with me a disturbing incident. It seems that she was leaving the Disney “underground” to go up to work when she saw a guy getting into a Minnie Mouse costume. With a mere turn of the head she then witnessed a woman pulling on a Mickey…
Friday night my husband and I watched The Joneses. It’s about a “family” that moves into a wealthy neighborhood for the sole purpose of marketing products. The cars, the golf clubs, the video game systems, the jogging suits, the frozen hors d’oeuvres—it’s all product placement. The premise of the movie got me thinking about evangelism—the…
Back in the spring I had a great idea. As a form of prayer, I would write one haiku each day about something I was thankful for. You know haikus, right? Three lines with a 5-7-5 syllable count. (I should admit right now that I love the challenge of technical poetic forms. I’m not saying…
I really do have a positive theology of sex. Our bodies are beautifully and wonderfully made. God designed us to enjoy sex within the context of loving, committed relationships. My theology on sex is fine. It’s just that I don’t actually like to talk about it. Which is a little odd since my parents were…
Here in northeastern Kansas fall has begun in all of its glory. The sun is shining. The air is crisp. It’s the kind of weather that makes me say, “Hey, let’s go for a walk to the ice cream place.” (O.K. It was the weather and the fact that we had coupons for free ice…
No, not the Book of Common Prayer. We Mennonites don’t have anything as liturgical as that. I’m talking about my own personal prayer notebook. I use my notebook to help me pray for each person in my congregation at least once a week and to help me keep track of special prayer requests. I’ll be…
I am a short woman–“petite” if you want to be polite about it. And until I bore a child I was also pretty skinny. So I guess I’m just used to things being roomy. Rolling up sleeves, cinching waists, shirt tails billowing behind me in the breeze. I’m not quite claustrophobic, but I do appreciate…
Spacious Faith 