Our nation made many political gains toward equality and justice for sexual minorities last week. Among them was the election of the first openly gay Senator–Tammy Baldwin, from Wisconsin. In a National Public Radio report, I heard these words from Baldwin: “If you are not in the room, the conversation is about you. If you’re…
I wrote this post in 2010, and it seemed appropriate to re-post this weekend. * * * I hate war. But I do not hate soldiers. I believe engaging in armed combat goes against the teachings of Jesus. But I respect the fact that war veterans have made incredible sacrifices for causes they believed to…
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In…
I had a lot of fun trick-or-treating with Grace downtown on Halloween. We were harmless aliens. Nothing scary. But there were plenty of fierce werewolves and bloody vampires and creepy ghosts wandering around. Plenty of costumes to remind me that Halloween is not really about candy; it’s about death–it’s particularly about our fear of death.…
In all of the news coverage of the anti-Muslim video and the world-wide reaction to it, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about offense–both giving it and taking it. I’ve wondered where exactly the lines of blame should be drawn. Do we have a right to offend each other? With a lot of contemporary moral…
A few weeks ago I was a guest in a church. A church of kind-hearted, hospitable people, I’m sure. At some point, as is to be expected, my tiny bladder and I needed to use the bathroom. I did not use the main bathroom with stalls and fake flowers and smelly lotion. I used the…
My sister-in-law, Jen, is one of the best moms I know. Along with my brother, she is raising two creative, intelligent, delightful, respectful boys. She is a medical doctor who provides care for hundreds of people. And last time we talked she told me how inadequate she feels every time she gets on Facebook. Her…
Driving home from my retreat last weekend, a billboard caught my attention. “When you die,” it asked, “will you go to heaven or hell?” At the bottom was an 800 number you could call, presumably to find out whether you’ll need your flame-retardant pajamas in the afterlife. I would love to listen in on these…
I will admit that I was a bit skeptical going into the Mennonite Women’s retreat this past Friday evening. In my experience, women’s retreats are kind of like that little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. You remember the rhyme? When she was good, she was very very…
I was just about to settle into bed with a good book last night when I heard, “Love. . . . Love?” drifting up from downstairs. “Love” is what my husband and I call each other when there is a problem. Pretty much only when there is a problem. My mind raced. The kids were…
Spacious Faith 