The assurance of things hoped for

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
President Obama today won the Nobel Peace Prize.
I am surprised, and very proud of him and of our country, to be sure.
I also wonder a little bit about what it means to award a Nobel Prize to someone who [...]

Sometimes God speaks by slapping you upside the head.

When I wrote earlier about hearing the call to ministry, a few people asked about the specific moment itself. I tend not to talk about it too much, not only because people look at you funny if you say you hear voices in your head, but because sometimes it’s discouraging to people who don’t have [...]

Hearing the call

The hardest part of discerning a call to ministry for me was believing it was possible.
I was raised by parents who told me I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so it wasn’t that I didn’t think the sky was the limit. And yes, I was Roman Catholic, and so I’d never [...]

Upcoming post

On Thursday, I’ll be blogging about my personal experience in discerning a call to ministry (well, actually, I’ve already written it and will schedule it to post on Thursday, so no yelling at me for ‘working’ during my week off!). This reflection is in response to Jenny Smith’s call for folks who have felt a [...]

A Wise Latina, racism, and white privilege

Judge Sonia Sotomayor can’t really say what needs to be said with reference to her ‘wise Latina’ quote, because she’s trying to get herself confirmed by Democrats and Republicans alike.
But I want her to say it.
Here are her statements, in what I hope is some context, lifted from another blog:
I would hope that a wise [...]

Beyond Anger

A colleague (thanks, Mark!) sent me a link today about some Catholic Sisters who give one another space to face illness and death with peace and dignity. Note especially this section:
Dr. McCann [who works closely with the sisters] said that the sisters’ religious faith insulated them from existential suffering — the “Why me?” refrain commonly [...]

Design your own church

In the middle of last week, the church Office Manager at Trinity and I were talking about use of space in the church and how we would re-design the building if money was no concern. This quickly became a conversation about how we would design the building if we were starting over from scratch.
So I [...]

What’s with the Ordination thing?

Not everyone who knows me is a church-going Methodist-loving nerd.
I know, strange, but true.
So some have been wondering, what is the ordination thing all about, and if I attend it, what should I do? What should I wear? Can I make cat calls?
No on the last one, please. Clothes on the second one.
What is an [...]

Lessons of the Season

In my life, lessons come in seasons. I like to think that this is because all of life is learning, growing, and cyclical, but it’s probably just because I’m thickheaded and it takes a few whacks with a 2×4 upside the back of the skull for me to realize that God is trying to tell [...]

Resurrection– not so much the what as the So What?

This comes from thoughts I posted on a discussion board at 7Villages, but I thought I’d post it here. It was framed as a yes/no question, but I think it’s a question that might take months or years or decades or a lifetime to answer. I’m still answering it– if not the initial part, the [...]