What Does Your Soul Need for Christmas? (or preparing for a contemplative holiday season with questions)

November 25, 2019 ~ Jessica Sanborn ~ 1 Comment

Before I get lost in the to-do list. Before I jot down lists of presents to buy. Before I stock my pantry in anticipation of Christmas baking. Before I get out ornaments and lights. I need to take a breath. I need to take another breath. I need to pull out my journal and sit … Continue reading What Does Your Soul Need for Christmas? (or preparing for a contemplative holiday season with questions)

Stronger than Death: book review

September 16, 2019 ~ Jessica Sanborn ~ Leave a comment

What does it look like to live a life of Love? This is one of the most important questions that I can think of. It's a question that keeps popping up for me. Repeatedly. Most recently, I found this question nudging my heart while reading my friend Rachel Pieh Jones's book Stronger than Death: How … Continue reading Stronger than Death: book review

Words that Made a Difference for This Doubter

January 23, 2018April 28, 2018 ~ Jessica Sanborn ~ 4 Comments

Hello! I'm blowing the dust off of this blog today in order to send some words out into the world. Thanks for being here. A few years ago, I had a complete faith breakdown. I was frightened, anxious, and lonely. My sense of belonging, which had always been securely anchored in my church and beliefs, had … Continue reading Words that Made a Difference for This Doubter

The Question that’s Saving my Christmas

December 22, 2016April 28, 2018 ~ Jessica Sanborn ~ 1 Comment

I’ve had a tenuous relationship with Christmas the last few years. Christmas has seriously stressed me out. It’s not just all of the extra and expectations that go into the month of December; although, these also play a role in holiday stress. But navigating Christmas with faith-shifting questions is hard. Christmas has a way of … Continue reading The Question that’s Saving my Christmas

What is Your Question? The One You Need Today?

April 11, 2016April 28, 2018 ~ Jessica Sanborn ~ 2 Comments

"What is your question? Your question for today?" my wise friend asked me gently. "I can only choose one?" I asked nervously. Do questions swirl in your mind like dry leaves on a blustery day, thick and unsettling? Maybe your questions are more blizzard-like--a blinding morass keeping you from moving forward? Then maybe this question … Continue reading What is Your Question? The One You Need Today?

Why Our Ideas About God Matter

February 2, 2016April 28, 2018 ~ Jessica Sanborn ~ 4 Comments

“Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than about Him.” ― Thomas Merton "Oh, how easy it is to clutter up the path of the Holy Spirit with my images and preconceptions of God!" ―Edwina Gately Our ideas about God matter. I've always thought so. But I used to think that it … Continue reading Why Our Ideas About God Matter

What Makes You Come Alive?

January 21, 2016April 25, 2018 ~ Jessica Sanborn ~ 2 Comments

Who am I? What have you made me for, God? Why am I even here, right now, on this beautiful planet? What is my role here? These are questions that haunt me. The answers somehow eluding me. Maybe that is because I have been looking for a job description. Something that comes with pay would … Continue reading What Makes You Come Alive?

Why Do You Write?

August 21, 2015April 25, 2018 ~ Jessica Sanborn ~ 2 Comments

Image from The Gift of Writing According to Thomas Merton, a vocation, like writing, is a gift we are given in order to give it back. He says, In religious terms, this is simply a matter of accepting life, and everything in life as a gift, and clinging to none of it, as far as … Continue reading Why Do You Write?

The Questions that Transform Me

June 18, 2015April 28, 2018 ~ Jessica Sanborn ~ 4 Comments

The best questions--the kind of questions that can change your life--aren't meant to be answered right away.

Asking “What do You Belong to?” and Other Life-or-Death Questions

June 9, 2015April 28, 2018 ~ Jessica Sanborn ~ Leave a comment

"Don't start looking in the Bible for the answers it gives. Start by listening for the questions it asks. . ." --Frederick Buechner Sometimes a story catches your heart with its truth--a truth that is piercing and happening even thousands of years after the story was first told. Like the story of that earnest young man (the Bible … Continue reading Asking “What do You Belong to?” and Other Life-or-Death Questions