Here is a new year’s prayer that I wrote several years ago. I am sharing it again with you all and wishing you a year of faithfulness and joy. ~Joanna God of new life, God of life made new, We begin this new year as we ended the last– embraced by your spirit of love…
Are we accountable for our fear? This is a question that white people in particular need to consider. Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy, was shot to death on November 22, 2014. Yesterday a grand jury decided not to indict the white police officer who killed him. The primary reason given for the non-indictment is…
Based on John 1:1-5 and Genesis 1:1-4 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And light. And lights. And it was good. And it is good. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. All things came to be through the Word. In the Word…
Emmanuel. God with us. Really. In the flesh. The incarnation means that in the most real and concrete way, God is connected to the physical reality of this planet. God has inhabited a human body with skin, hair, blood, bone. God has had dirt under fingernails, has drunk thirstily from the offered cup. God has…
We give thanks for the light of hope—unrelenting and inexplicable. Our hope in Christ shines on. We give thanks for the light of peace—strong and unafraid. The peace of Christ lights our way. We give thanks for the light of joy—persistent and unpredictable. The joy of Christ brightens our lives. We give thanks for the…
Just for fun, I thought I’d share a slightly edited version of a piece I wrote several years ago. (How long ago? You ask. Well, the baby who is mentioned started middle school this year.) I am grateful to now have older children and slightly less chaotic holiday preparations. ‘Twas the week before Christmas, and…
One of the downsides of a theological education (and/or an overactive theological imagination) is an inability to sing some favorite old hymns with naive gusto. During this Christmas season in particular, we simply know too much about the biblical story (and the reality of childbirth and babies in general) to fully believe all of the…
In these darkening days, we come seeking peace. We seek serenity within ourselves. We seek harmony within our families. We seek goodwill among our neighbors. We seek a ceasefire among all nations. We seek not just the absence of conflict, But the presence of shalom– the abiding peace the healing life the unrelenting justice that…
The words below are taken from the sermon I preached last Sunday. There is more to say. There are better things to say. But these are the words I have right now. The Bible does not specifically address issue of gun control, but there is a lot in scripture that speaks to various aspects of…
O come, O come, Emmanuel– God with us. Come into our brokenness; Come into our joy. come into our captivity; Come into our freedom. Come into our fear; Come into our compassion. Our souls have had their fill. Have mercy upon us, O God, And come, O come, Emmanuel.
Spacious Faith 