On Monday I wrote about loving our bodies … Here are some thoughts by Barbara Brown Taylor on the subject. “I can say that I think it is important to pray naked in front of a full-length mirror sometimes, especially when you are full of loathing for your body. Maybe you think you are too…
Faith Practices
The Spiritual Practice of Loving your Body
As a child I didn’t think much about my size. I was tiny, with little chicken legs that always seemed to be scratched up with a bandaid on at least one scraped shin. I used my body and lived in it without any shame or self-consciousness until I hit junior high. Several things changed that carefree way…
When Fears and Insecurities Get in the Way of Love
It’s in community, not isolation, where we discover we are worthy of love. Some of us discovered we were worthy of love at our mother’s breast, called into being by a gentle voice who wanted us, who delighted in our mere existence. For others, they receive no such thing. This world is an awe-striking mix of…
When You Become Someone’s Secret Keeper
On Monday I wrote about the practice of welcoming someone into your story. In particular, the hard parts, the darker parts of our stories. There’s huge risks in sharing the secrets of our lives with other people. What if they see us differently? What if they judge us? And what if they tell other people…
The Practice of Welcoming People into Your Story, Along with a Tale about a Spider
When my children were little, I got caught up in the snare of living inside my head, and created a sort of alternate fantasy life I could escape to when things seemed too difficult. I had always like to read novels, and had learned early on that with my imagination I could go anywhere. Imagination is…
The Manifestation of Mercy
I wonder if grace is the manifestation of mercy. I’ve been listening and wrestling with God for so many years now, and never intended grace to become the theme of my life. Courage, boldness, a willingness to speak truth maybe, but not grace. I am known for all those other things, yes. But by far…
The Practice of Receiving a Different Kind of Miracle
Monday morning I woke thinking it would be like any other typical day. I took my children to the bus stop, we prayed for the day, and then I drove off in my 2005 Honda Pilot to Starbucks. When I was just about there, I noticed white steam had started rising out of the top of my car…
The Practice of Wrestling with Scripture in a Communal Conversation
I had my all time favorite teacher in the fourth grade. Miss Mizrahi. She was smart, kind, and challenging. I learned how to debate in her class. She gave us free rein to say what we believed and to defend our arguments with passion and courage. My friend Samuel also came from a Christian family,…
On How Time Transforms Our Wants
Our wants change over the years, don’t they? Life changes us, children change us, marriage changes us. We wake up one day and realize that what we wanted twenty years ago, or even five years ago is different now. The grand hopes we had as young people in our early twenties setting out on life…
The Practice of Telling God What You Want
Twelve years ago my role changed at the church I was working at. I had been working as a College Director and because of reorganization and the birth of my daughter, I found my name wiped off the staff roster. I had a baby and then I didn’t have a job at the church. There…