I wonder if the power of the Scripture's stories is not that they happened once upon a time, but that they happen. They have happened; they are happening; and they will happen. Like the story about Jesus taking the hand of the dead/sleeping girl and saying: "My child, get up!" Wake up. Wake up. Live … Continue reading On Waking
The language that we use to describe God and faith and Jesus seems especially worn out sometimes. Sometimes I wish that we could just start over with a new vocabulary. But then there are times when we are given new eyes to see these words in a different light. When we experience these words in the depths of our hearts. And the words become new. And we become new. That is the power at the heart of these most potent words. "Believe" is one such word for me.
Am I selfish for staying home from church on Sunday mornings? This question hit me with force the other night. I love my Sunday mornings. I love them a lot. My reasons for leaving church behind on Sunday mornings differ from the reasons that I still am home while my husband takes our three kids … Continue reading Oxygen Mask
As I puttered around in that old flannel shirt, I thought back to who I was 20 years ago. 20 years ago, I was full of ideas and passion and ideals. The future was wide open. I had a plan and knew what I was going to be when I grew up. The plan was lost a long time ago and replaced with a new plan, which was also lost. Now I don't have a plan. The future is still wide open. This is both exhilarating and embarrassing. I'm letting go of the embarrassed. I am thankful that I am still becoming.
I stumbled across this prayer twice in the last few weeks. Once in Barbara Brown Taylor's book Learning to Walk in the Dark and the other in Ruth Haley Barton's book Sacred Rhythms. I love this. Everything about it. It seems like a good way to start out a new year. My Lord God, I … Continue reading A Prayer from Thomas Merton
What am I here for today? Sometimes I wake up with that prayer on my heart. It's a prayer I would like to wake up with every day. What am I here for today? This morning, an answer came to me: You are not here to wash the floors, to fold the laundry, or to … Continue reading What am I here for today?
Silent Night Holy Night gets drowned out in presents and preparations, wrapping, cooking, shopping, family, family, and more family (whom I love dearly!). The way we celebrate Christmas seems to be a how-to-primer on how to miss Heaven on earth. We walk right by-- wearied and noise-worn, or excited, oversaturated, and overstimulated. Today, I want … Continue reading Holy in the Silent Night
I. "Don't be afraid," They sang into the dark. Light: Brilliant, Bewildering, and Blinding Tore through the dark night sky. Light Sang: God is with us. Don't be afraid. As the flaming messengers disappeared, Dark returned. Running, Stumbling through the unlit hills and streets, Shepherds searching. Seeking. Finding. Shouting. Overcome by God with us. … Continue reading An Advent Invitation and Blessing
There are many things that we know with our minds and intellect that we really don't know. This knowledge doesn't change the way that we see. It doesn't change the way that we act. Sometimes we need reminders of the way things really are. We need help remembering our place in the scheme of … Continue reading The Practice of Seeing What is Real
Sometimes it is easy to confuse faith with a set of beliefs. Sometimes people put their faith in their beliefs. Sometimes those beliefs are intertwined with faith to an extent that it is hard to separate the two. I don’t think faith as a set of beliefs is the faith Jesus was talking about in Luke's stories.
Jessica Sanborn 